FIH Men’s Hockey Pro League 2022-23 Preview: Table leaders India take on Belgium, Great Britain

Head coach Craig Fulton will take charge of his first match as the new coach in the London leg.

The Indian men’s hockey team will take on Belgium and Great Britain as a part of their trip to Europe in the United Kingdom leg of the FIH Men’s Hockey Pro League 2022-23. The matches begin from Friday, May 26 onwards and will end on June 3, 2023, and will commence at the Lee Valley Hockey and Tennis Centre in London, United Kingdom. India’s European trip features two legs - the first leg in the UK and the second leg in the Netherlands.

The Indian team will begin the initial phase of their journey in London, where they will go head-to-head against the 2020 Tokyo Olympics champions, Belgium, on May 26 and June 2, 2023. Additionally, they will also face the host nation, Great Britain, on May 27 and June 3.

After playing Great Britain in the last match of the UK leg on June 3, the Indian team will travel to Eindhoven in the Netherlands. There, they will play the host Netherlands on June 7 and June 10. While the Men in Blue will lock horns with Argentina on June 8 and 11, before heading back home.

The Stakes

India

Newly appointed head coach of the Indian men's hockey team, Craig Fulton, will take charge of his first match in this leg of the FIH Men's Hockey Pro League. And no better time for the Dutch tactician to take the reins of a side, who sit on top of the points standings with five wins from eight matches, including consecutive wins over World Champions Germany. Skipper Harmanpreet Singh leads the scoring chart with 11 goals, while midfielder Selvam Karthi is not far behind with five goals and Sukhjeet Singh has four goals.

Belgium

Reigning Olympics champions Belgium are seventh in the points standings with just two wins from four matches. They have so far played only Germany and Argentina in the FIH Men's Hockey Pro League 2022-23 and have beaten and lost once each against both teams. Hendrickx Alexander is the top-scorer for the Red Lions with six goals in four matches.

Great Britain

They sit second behind India in the standings, but are level on points (19) from the same number of matches. However, Great Britain head into their home leg of the FIH Pro League after a 3-3 draw against Australia, which they went on to lose 2-4 on penalties. They are yet a lose a match in the Pro League in regulation time. Wallace Zachary and Ward Sam are the highest goalscorers for Great Britain with five goals each.

Head-To-Head

India vs Belgium head-to-head

• Matches Played: 88
• India: 50
• Belgium: 23
• Draw: 15

India vs England head-to-head

• Matches Played: 132
• India: 25
• England: 86
• Draw: 21

Squads

India

Krishan Bahadur Pathak, PR Sreejesh, Harmanpreet Singh (Captain), Amit Rohidas, Jarmanpreet Singh, Manpreet Singh, Sumit, Sanjay, Mandeep Mor, Gurinder Singh, Hardik Singh (Vice Captain), Dilpreet Singh, Moirangthem Rabichandra Singh, Shamsher Singh, Akashdeep Singh, Vivek Sagar Prasad, Abhishek, Lalit Kumar Upadhyay, S Karthi, Gurjant Singh, Sukhjeet Singh, Raj Kumar Pal, Mandeep Singh, Simranjeet Singh.

Belgium

Biekens Tobias, Boccard Gauthier, Boon Tom, Cosyns Tanguy, Crols Thomas, De Kerpel Nicolas, De Sloover Arthur, Denayer Felix, Dohmen John-John, Duvekot Roman, Ghislain William, Hainaut Guillermo, Hellin Guillaume, Luypaert Loïck, Onana Nelson, Poncelet Nicolasn, Stockbroekx Thibeau, Stockbroekx Emmanuel, Van Dessel Arno, Van Doren Loïck, Vandenbroucke Simon, Wegnez Victor.

Great Britain

James Albery, David Ames, Nick Bandurak, Will Calnan, David Condon, Brendan Creed, Jacob Draper, David Goodfield, James Mazarelo, Lee Morton, Tim Nurse, Tim Nurse, Toby Reynolds-Cotterill, Phil Roper, Stuart Rushmere, Rupert Shipperley, Tom Sorsby, Sam Taylor, Jack Turner, Zach Wallace, Jack Waller, Sam Ward

FIH Men’s Hockey Pro League 2022-23: Indian Players to watch out for

With Hockey India appointing Craig Fulton as the new chief coach of India, it will be interesting to see how the Indian team fares in the competition. Let’s take a look at some of the Indian players to watch out for in the event.

Harmanpreet Singh

Indian skipper Harmanpreet Singh is the leading goal scorer at the FIH Men's Hockey Pro League 2022-23, amassing 11 goals in the tournament. The drag-flicker had a disappointing run at the Men's Hockey World Cup but bounced back strongly with a sensational performance at the FIH Men's Pro League 2022-23 home leg matches that took place in Birsa Munda International Hockey Stadium in Rourkela. As the Indian team heads to London, Harmanpreet will be raring to go in the UK leg of the tournament.

Simranjeet Singh

Forward Simranjeet Singh has made a comeback to the Indian squad owing to his strong performance during the 39-member core group training held at the Sports Authority of India (SAI) center in Bengaluru. Simranjeet played an instrumental role in India's historic bronze medal win at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics. However, an injury that he sustained during the Asia Cup 2022 in Jakarta, Indonesia, against Pakistan ruled him out of the Indian team.

In addition, he also wasn't a member of the Indian team squad that competed in the FIH Men's Hockey World Cup 2023. As Simranjeet is now fit, he will be more focused than ever to cement his place as a prominent forward in the Indian team.

Hardik Singh

Hardik Singh will serve as the deputy of Harmanpreet Singh in the upcoming away league matches against Belgium and Great Britain and later against Argentina and the Netherlands. However, this isn't the first instance when Hardik will become the vice-captain of the Indian team. He was previously roped in with the responsibility during India's home games against Germany and Australia.

Additionally, he was the vice-captain of the Indian junior team. The situation this time is a bit different as he will also be the main midfielder of the team, considering former captain and experienced player Manpreet Singh has been named as a defender in the squad. It will be interesting to see how Hardik responds to this challenge in the coming time.

What are the telecast details for India’s matches against Belgium and Great Britain?

India’s away matches against Belgium and Great Britain at the FIH Men’s Hockey Pro League 2022-23 will be telecast on Star Sports First, Star Sports Select 2 SD, and HD platforms. The live streaming will also be available on fancode.com.

What is the schedule of India’s away matches against Belgium and Great Britain?

All the timings are in Indian Standard time

May 26, 2023 - India vs Belgium (Time - 7:00 pm IST)May 27, 2023 - India vs Great Britain (Time - 9.30pm IST)June 2, 2023 - India vs Belgium (Time - 7:00 pm IST)June 3, 2023 - India vs Great Britain (Time - 5:00 pm IST)