BHUBANESWAR: Junior hockey World Cup player Moirangthem Rabichandra Singh will likely make his senior India debut as he has been named in the 22-member squad, which will take on Argentina in the FIH Men's Pro League double-header this weekend at the Kalinga Stadium here.
Rabichandra is the lone new face in the squad for the matches against Argentina scheduled for March 19 and 20.
Speaking about the team, chief coach Graham Reid said, "These games will provide great exposure for young, new players coming up the ranks, while as a team, we are also getting to work out different combinations ahead of the Asian Games (in Hangzhou, China this year)."
"Rabichandra is an exciting young midfielder who showed a solid glimpse into what he can bring to the team during the Junior World Cup. I am looking forward to seeing the defensive pressure he takes to the opposition and his uncanny control with the ball, both great assets in the way we like to play. We also have Gurjant returning to the squad and we continue to try Jugraj, Sukhjeet and Abhishek who are showing good potential," Reid added.
The Indian team has thus far played six matches in this season of Pro League. They beat South Africa at home (10-2, 10-2), while they won a game and lost a game each against France (5-0, 2-5) and Spain (5-4, 3-5). India are currently placed second in the pool standing with 12 points while the Netherlands are leaders of the pool standings with 16 points.
Argentina are ranked No.6 in the world.
The squad:
Goalkeepers: PR Sreejesh and Krishan Bahadur Pathak.
Defenders: Harmanpreet Singh, Jugraj Singh, Surender Kumar, Varun Kumar, Jarmanpreet Singh and Amit Rohidas.
Midfielders: Manpreet Singh, Vivek Sagar Prasad, Hardik Singh, Sumit, Shamsher Singh, Nilakanta Sharma, Moirangthem Rabichandra Singh.
Forwards: Gurjant Singh, Mandeep Singh, Lalit Kumar Upadhyay, Shilanand Lakra, Sukhjeet Singh, Dilpreet Singh and Abhishek.
Standbys: Suraj Karkera, Mandeep Mor, Dipsan Tirkey, Nilam Sanjeep Xess, Sanjay, Jaskaran Singh, Akashdeep Singh, Ashis Kumar Topno, Gursahibjit Singh and Mohd. Raheel.