Bengaluru: Indian Men’s Hockey team commenced their journey from Kempegowda International Airport (KIA) to Cape Town in the wee hours of Sunday morning for their tour of South Africa, scheduled from January 22 to 28.
Indian men’s team, ranked third in the world, will take on ninth-ranked France on January 22 in their first game before playing them again on the January 24. They will then play hosts world no 14 South Africa on January 26 before playing top ranked the Netherlands in their final game of the tour on January 28.
With captain Harmanpreet Singh leading the charge and FIH Player of the Year 2023 Hardik Singh playing deputy, India boasts of a rich blend of youth and experience and will look to make full use of the tour to build on their quality of hockey in the year of the Olympics.
Before hopping on the flight from Bengaluru, Harmanpreet said: “It is a wonderful opportunity for all of us to work on our game together as a unit while playing against some of the best teams in the world. We’ve had a preparatory camp in Bengaluru where everyone has developed clarity on their roles. There are a few youngsters who have been added to the squad so it’ll be great to see how they complement our team going forward especially with the Olympics nearing.”
Vice-Captain Hardik echoed his captain’s thoughts saying, “We have a big squad and are quite excited about the prospect of playing against top quality international teams going into the season. It is the year of the Olympics and we would like for everyone to get the required exposure as we continue our bid to go from strength to strength at the international level.”
–IANS