While the Indian women's hockey team's FIH Pro League 2023-24 campaign goes from bad to worse, with three defeats on the trot, it is time now for their male counterparts to take the field and kick-start a hopefully better campaign. Their first challenge is against Spain, whom they will face on February 10 at the Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneswar. (More Hockey News)
You can expect Harmanpreet Singh and Co to put up a stronger show than Savita Punia's team so far, considering the former's pedigree and recent results. The third-ranked men's team is coming into this tournament after travelling to South Africa, where it played three friendly matches against France and the Netherlands and one official match against hosts South Africa.
India won 4-0 and recorded a 2-2 draw in their first and second game against France respectively. In the next game, they defeated South Africa 3-0 before losing to the Netherlands 1-5.
Sounding upbeat ahead of the clash against Spain, captain Harmanpreet said: "We’re really excited to be back in India to play the FIH Hockey Pro League 2023-24. We have the opportunity to play against some top-quality teams and we will get to prepare well for the Olympics. We’ve been working on the areas that needed attention and we’ll look to execute them in these matches that are extremely important to us.”
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Echoing the skipper, India head coach Craig Fulton said: “It is the home stretch before the Olympics and we are looking to get some consistent performances in. There are a few youngsters that are really exciting to watch and have been added to the squad. They will be given opportunities in these eight games so that we can confirm our Olympic squad,” said India head coach Craig Fulton.
He added: “We have a good attacking game and we’ll look to balance that with our defense. The ambition of this team is extremely impressive. The South Africa tour was indicative of the fact that our team’s chemistry is right up there and there’s healthy competition within the squad and that is the need of the hour.
We want to give the youngsters exposure to help them develop tactically and technically. There is an abundance of talent and that helps with the depth of the squad so that they are well prepared to come in and do well in case of injuries.”
Head-To-Head Record
In the last seven matches that India have played against Spain, the hosts were triumphant on four occasions. Although Spain emerged victorious when they beat India 2-1 at last year's Four Nation Men’s Invitational Tournament in Barcelona the last time the two teams faced each other, India, being the higher ranked team at No.3 as compared to Spain at No.8, will draw inspiration from their 2-0 win over the latter when the two last faced off in India during the FIH Hockey Men’s World Cup 2023.
India Squad
Goalkeepers: Sreejesh Parattu Raveendran, Krishan Bahadur Pathak
Defenders: Jarmanpreet Singh, Sumit, Jugraj Singh, Amit Rohidas, Harmanpreet Singh (C), Varun Kumar, Sanjay, Vishnukant Singh
Midfielders: Hardik Singh (VC), Vivek Sagar Prasad, Manpreet Singh, Nilakanta Sharma, Shamsher Singh, Rajkumar Pal, Rabichandra Singh Moirangthem
Forwards: Lalit Kumar Upadhyay, Mandeep Singh, Gurjant Singh, Sukhjeet Singh, Abhishek, Akashdeep Singh, Araijeet Singh Hundal
Live streaming details of India vs Spain, FIH Pro League 2023-24 hockey match
When will the India vs Spain, FIH Pro League 2023-24 hockey match be played?
The India vs Spain, FIH Pro League 2023-24 hockey match will be played on Saturday, February 10, 2024 at 7:30pm IST at the Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneswar.
Where will the India vs Spain, FIH Pro League 2023-24 hockey match be live streamed?
The match will be live streamed on the Jio Cinema app and website in India.
On which TV channel will the game be broadcast?
The game will be telecast live on the Sports18 Khel TV channel in India.
