New Delhi [India], June 20 (ANI): Hockey India on Monday named the 18-member Indian Men's Hockey Team for the prestigious Commonwealth Games scheduled to begin on 29 July in Birmingham. India grouped in Pool B along with England, Canada, Wales and Ghana will begin their campaign on 31 July against Ghana.

The team will be captained by Manpreet Singh, who led the Indian team to a historic Bronze medal at the Olympic Games in Tokyo last year. Dragflick specialist Harmanpreet Singh, the highest goal scorer of the FIH Hockey Pro League, has been named as the Vice-Captain of the team.

The squad includes the experienced goalkeeper PR Sreejesh and Krishan B Pathak, who returns to the team after a brief injury break. Defenders Varun Kumar, Surender Kumar, Harmanpreet Singh, Amit Rohidas, Jugraj Singh and Jarmanpreet Singh have been named to the team. The midfield includes the experience of Manpreet Singh, Hardik Singh, Vivek Sagar Prasad, Shamsher Singh, Akashdeep Singh and Nilakanta Sharma. While experienced strikers Mandeep Singh, Lalit Kumar Upadhyay, Gurjant Singh and Abhishek will lead the charge in attack.

In their previous outing at the Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast, India suffered disappointment finishing fourth. However, after an impressive outing in the FIH Pro League this year, the Indian team is poised to achieve success in Birmingham.

Speaking about the team selection, Chief Coach Graham Reid said, "We have gone with a tried-and-tested team for the Commonwealth Games. These players have the experience of playing top teams in high-pressure games in the FIH Pro League which was good exposure for us ahead of the prestigious quadrennial event.""After a brief break when we return home from the Netherlands, we will resume camp in SAI, Bengaluru where we will analyze our performance against Belgium and Netherlands. While there are many takeaways from this outing in FIH Pro League, there surely are a few areas that we can improve upon ahead of the Commonwealth Games," asserted Reid.

Indian Men's Team for CWG: Manpreet Singh (Captain), Harmanpreet Singh (Vice-Captain), Sreejesh PR (GK), Krishan Bahadur Pathak (GK), Varun Kumar, Surender Kumar, Amit Rohidas, Jugraj Singh, Jarmanpreet Singh, Hardik Singh, Vivek Sagar Prasad, Shamsher Singh, Akashdeep Singh, Nilakanta Sharma, Mandeep Singh, Gurjant Singh, Lalit Kumar Upadhyay and Abhishek. (ANI)