Five Indian hockey players to keep your eye on at the Champions Trophy

With the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, only two months away, coaches have chosen to utilise this year’s Champions Trophy hockey tournament as the final warm-up to the main event.

Five of the six teams that will be involved in London, starting on Friday, have qualified for Rio. All of these five teams have entered the event with squads that have been rotated to some extent.

For India, a few key personnel — such as skipper Sardar Singh and penalty corner specialist Rupinder Pal Singh — have been rested, while newer faces or those still vying for a spot in the squad for Rio have been included for the London event.

Also on show are players who had been rested for India’s previous major engagement, the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup in Malaysia. Between the competition in Ipoh and the upcoming one in London, Indian coach Roelant Oltmans is taking one final look at his players – although the team plays friendlies in the lead-up to Rio — before choosing his Olympic squad.

Here are five Indian players to watch out for in the Champions Trophy.

Harmanpreet Singh, 20: Defender and drag-flicker

Considered India’s next big thing, 20-year-old Harmanpreet Singh is certainly the man to watch out for in London. The penalty corner specialist impressed during his senior team debut at the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup in April, showcasing his powerful yet subtly deceptive drag-flicking ability by scoring twice in the competition. He was also solid at the back in a tournament that did not reflect well on India’s defenders.

His rise to the senior team has been quick. In 2014, with an impressive nine goals, he was named the Player of the Tournament with the Under-21 team at the prestigious Sultan of Johor Cup in Malaysia. The following year, Harmanpreet scored four goals as India thrashed Pakistan 6-2 in the Junior Asia Cup final. He finished the tournament with an incredible 15 goals – a figure that well and truly thrust him into the limelight.

A little over a month after an impressive 2016 Hockey India League campaign with Dabang Mumbai, Harmanpreet is showing signs that he is ready to give India’s first-choice drag flickers, Rupinder Pal Singh and VR Ragunath, a run for their money.

Harjeet Singh, 20: Midfielder

Another 20-year-old storming up the ranks, centre-half Harjeet was adjudged the most promising player at the Sultan of Johor Cup in 2013 before leading India to the Junior Asia Cup title two years later. In the majestic triumph over Pakistan in the final of that event, it was he who led from the front, just like he did the entire tournament, by scoring the opening goal and sending India on its way to the trophy.

With silky skills in the attacking third of the pitch, he had also impressed during his maiden senior team appearances at the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup, which earned him a spot in London and an extended run in the side. He has admitted that his game is modelled on Indian skipper Sardar Singh and his fellow centre-half Manpreet Singh, and on current evidence, he could well be the future leader of Indian hockey.

Manpreet Singh, 24: Midfielder

While the focus is often placed on Sardar’s commanding displays in midfield and the obvious stardom the skipper brings to the team, it is Manpreet who has been driving India to greater heights in the past year. During the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup held in April, he flew back to India after his father’s death, but returned a few days later to perform his national team duties – an act that has only cemented his special place in Indian hockey.

His presence as a flexible centre-half – who has played in virtually all positions for India from back to front – allows Sardar the freedom to move forward, and his coach, the luxury of easily altering the tactics in the middle of a game.

One of Manpreet’s most significant performances in India colours came in the 2015 Hockey World League Finals when, with his driving runs and all-action display, he took the game to Germany virtually all on his own. Thanks to him, India dominated three quarters of the match and earned a 1-1 draw. Watch out for his spectacular performances in London.

Nikkin Thimmiah: 25, Forward

Injuries haven’t been too kind to Thimmiah since he made his senior team debut in 2013. A pulled hamstring during training meant he was forced to miss the 2014 Hockey World Cup, followed by another injury next year, which ruled him out of the 2015 HWL Finals.

But now he’s fit – and firing too. Thimmiah scored twice in this year’s Sultan Azlan Shah Cup, a tournament in which he truly established himself as a forward by scoring a hat-trick against Australia in the 2015 edition.

Indian forwards have generally been poor in converting chances into goals. SV Sunil has a knack of missing clear-cut opportunities. Akashdeep Singh and Ramandeep Singh aren’t too reliable either, while Mandeep Singh has been on the fringes of the first team for too long. Thimmiah, thus, has a good chance to establish himself high on the pecking order, and he’ll be raring to go in London.

PR Sreejesh, 28: Goalkeeper

Rested for the previous tournament and now returning to lead India in Sardar’s absence, the Tamil Nadu-born 'keeper has bailed his team out time and again over the years. He’s been the Most Valuable Player in many of India’s significant triumphs in recent years: gold at the 2014 Asian Games, and the bronze-medal finish in the HWL Finals, both of which were won in a shootout following Sreejesh’s heroics.

Both back-up goalkeepers Harjot Singh and Akash Chikte made schoolboy errors at the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup, confirming that there is a significant gap between India’s No. 1 goalkeeper and those who follow him.

Even the defence looked dodgy without Sreejesh’s commanding presence in goal. If Indian team is to finish third or higher in London when competing with the likes of Germany, Australia and Belgium, chances are that the stand-in skipper will have to pull off his rescue acts once again.

Akarsh Sharma is a Delhi-based writer who occasionally tweets here.