Fresh from a memorable tour of Europe, the 33-member core probable group of the Indian men's hockey team will return to the SAI Centre in Bengaluru on Saturday for the national coaching camp ahead of the Hockey Pro League matches against Argentina.
The 18-day camp will conclude on March 31 before the team departs for the FIH Hockey Pro League against Argentina in Buenos Aires.
In their maiden assignment of the year, the Indian team led by PR Sreejesh secured a 6-1 win and 1-1 draw against Germany followed by 1-1 draw and 3-2 win over Great Britain.
"The team was given a brief three-day break to go meet their families before they return to the national camp on Saturday," chief coach Graham Reid said in a statement issued by Hockey India.
"I think this break was needed to refresh mentally as the upcoming weeks are going to be quite intense as we prepare for the FIH Hockey Pro League matches against Argentina," he added.
The Indian team has played six matches in the FIH Hockey Pro League so far and are currently placed fifth on the points table behind table toppers Belgium followed by Netherlands, Australia and Germany.
India will resume its maiden campaign in the coveted Hockey Pro League on April 11 when they take on Olympic champions Argentina in back-to-back away games.
"We are looking forward to resuming our campaign in the FIH Hockey Pro League. Getting good competition in Europe was certainly very important ahead of the Pro League matches.
"We were in good nick when we played Netherlands, Belgium and Australia last year and we want to bring our 'A' game to the fore in the upcoming matches," stated Reid.
The core probable group for the national coaching camp remains unchanged.
Core Probable List:
Goalkeepers: PR Sreejesh, Krishan B Pathak, Suraj Karkera.
Defenders: Birendra Lakra, Rupinder Pal Singh, Surender Kumar, Amit Rohidas, Kothajit Singh Khadangbam, Harmanpreet Singh, Gurinder Singh, Jarmanpreet Singh, Varun Kumar, Dipsan Tirkey, Nilam Sanjeep Xess.
Midfielders: Manpreet Singh, Chinglensana Singh Kangujam, Nilakanta Sharma, Sumit, Jaskaran Singh, Rajkumar Pal, Hardik Singh, Vivek Sagar Prasad.
Forwards: SV Sunil, Akashdeep Singh, Mandeep Singh, Lalit Upadhyay, Ramandeep Singh, Simranjeet Singh, Shamsher Singh, Gurjant Singh, Dilpreet Singh, Gursahibjit Singh, Shilanand Lakra.
