The Indian males’s hockey staff is all set to participate within the upcoming Asian Games, which is able to kick-start from Friday in Hangzhou, China. India will start their marketing campaign towards Uzbekistan on September 24. India is positioned in Pool A, alongside Pakistan, Japan, Bangladesh, Singapore, and Uzbekistan. On the opposite hand, Pool B consists of Korea, Malaysia, China, Oman, Thailand, and Indonesia. With their first match within the quadrennial occasion simply across the nook, captain Harmanpreet Singh spoke in regards to the challenges that the staff may face.

“I am lucky to receive the opportunity to lead India men’s hockey team at the Asian Games. But at the same time I also know that this tournament will be a bit challenging. As an experienced player, I have faced all this and somewhere, the team has also been conveyed that the tournament might push them out of their comfort zones,” Harmanpreet informed NDTV in an unique interview.

“So, I think our team is all set. We are not going to take any team lightly and will be giving our hundred per cent in every match. We will be going with the same planning and intensity against every opponent,” he added.

Team India will probably be coming to this event after clinching the Asian Champions Trophy 2023 in Chennai final month. The India skipper additional said that enjoying within the Asian Championship turned out to be a great apply for the staff.

“Playing against the Asian teams is like a new structure. The Asian Championship just before the Asian Games, helped us a lot with our game. Even though we won the tournament but we still learnt so much from there like we conceded two goal against China. So, these are the things that we need to take care of and we cannot take any team lightly,” he mentioned.

“Talking about my game, I play as a free man and it’s mine and the goalkeeper’s duty to communicate things to the other teammates. There are three different structures in which we have to communicate with others and we have to make sure that the needs of all the players are being fulfilled,” he added.

Team India left for Hangzhou on Tuesday to take part within the Asian Games. Hardik Singh will probably be serving as Harmanpreet’s deputy.

The midfield will probably be anchored by Nilakanta Sharma, Hardik Singh, Manpreet Singh, Vivek Sagar Prasad, Sumit, and Shamsher Singh, whereas the assault will probably be led by Abhishek, Gurjant Singh, Mandeep Singh, Sukhjeet Singh, and Lalit Kumar Upadhyay.

(With PTI Inputs)