A file image of India hockey players.
Defender Dipsan Tirkey will lead an 18-member India U-23 men's hockey team for a six-nation tournament in Belgium from July 14-21.
Apart from India and hosts Belgium, the other participating nations are Great Britain, Ireland, Malaysia and the Netherlands.
The Indian team will play their opening match against Ireland on July 14.
The top two teams at the end of the round-robin matches will face each other in the Final on July 21 whereas the remaining teams will play classification matches.
Apart from Tirkey, Hardik Singh has been named vice-captain.
The U-23 Six Nations Tournament in Belgium will prove to be a good test for our younger players of the Core Group. We will be playing against some of the best youth teams from around the world, which will help in giving our players the exposure they require," said David John, Director, High Performance.
"This tour will also help in developing our team that will take part in the 8th Sultan of Johor Cup 2018 to be held in October later this year. It will be a crucial tournament for some of the athletes as this will be their first major international exposure, but the majority of the players have represented the Junior/Senior Men's Team which is always a good sign, he said.
Squad: Goalkeeper: Pankaj Kumar Rajak, Prashant Kumar Chauhan; Defenders: Dipsan Tirkey, Nilam Sanjeep Xess, Pardeep Singh, Mandeep Mor, Somjeet and Mohd. Faraz; Midfield: Hardik Singh, Dharminder Singh, Raj Kumar Pal, Vishal Antil and Rabichandra Singh Moirangthem; Forward: Shilanand Lakra, Abhishek, Abharan Sudev Belimagga, Mohammed Raheel Mouseen and Mohammad Umar.
