DESCRIPTION:
*     Hockey India has named an 18-member squad to be led by the Sardar Singh.
*     With four key strikers _ Danish Mujtaba, S V Sunil, Gurwinder Singh Chandi and Akashdeep Singh _ ruled out of the tournament due to injuries, India has fielded a young and inexperienced five-member forwardline which has two new players in Ramandeep Singh and Nikin Thimmaiah.
*     Nithin Thimmaiah, Mandeep Singh and Malak Singh are the other three strikers in the squad.
*     Defender Amit Rohidas (Odisha) is the other entrant in the Asia Cup-bound team which will also witness the return of mid-fielder S K Uthappa.
*     Defender Birendra Lakra is another Odisha players to find a berth in the team.
*     Goalkeeper P R Sreejesh has been named as Sardar`s deputy in place of dragflicker V R Raghunath.
*     Hockey India selectors B P Govinda, R P Singh and Arjun Halappa, High Performance Director and interim chief coach Roelant Oltmans, coach M K Kaushik and scientific advisor Jason Konrath alongwith the government observer Harbinder Singh selected the team during the three-day selection trials held at the SAI Centre in Bangalore from July 25 to 27.
*     India are placed in Pool B along side Korea, Bangladesh and Oman while Pakistan, Malaysia, Japan and Chinese-Taipei complete the Pool A line-up.
*     India will open its campaign against Oman on August 24 followed by matches against Korea (August 26) and Bangladesh (August 28).

TEAM INDIA:
Goalkeepers: P R  Sreejesh (vice-captain), P T Rao
Defenders: V R Raghunath, Rupinder Pal Singh, Amit Rohidas, Kothajit Singh, Birendra
Lakra, Gurmail Singh.
Midfielders: Sardar Singh (captain), Manpreet Singh, Chinglensana Singh, Dharamvir Singh, S K Uthappa.
Forwards: Ramandeep Singh, Nithin Thimmaiah, Mandeep Singh, Malak Singh, Nikin Thimmaiah.