Chettri to lead India in Sultan Azlan Shah Cup

New Delhi, April 12 (IANS) Goalkeeper Bharat Chettri will be leading an 18-member Indian hockey team in the 21st Sultan Azlan Shah Cup Tournament to be held at Ipoh, Malaysia May 24-June 3.

The seven-nation tournament will feature Argentina, Britain, India, South Korea, Malaysia, New Zealand and Pakistan. Apart from hosts Malaysia, all other teams shall be playing at the London Olympic Games in July.

Hockey India (HI) selectors B.P. Govinda and Balbir Singh, along with government observer Harbinder Singh witnessed the trials April 8-9 before selecting the team.

The tournament will be played on a blue artificial pitch with yellow balls on round-robin league format, culminating in positional playoffs on the last day.

India will open their campaign against New Zealand, May 24, before taking on South Korea, Great Britain, Malaysia, Argentina and Pakistan.

India have won the title on five earlier occasions -- 1985, 1991, 1995, 2009 and 2010.

The squad:

Goalkeepers: Bharat Chettri (captain), Sreejesh P.R,

Defenders: Sandeep Singh, V.R. Raghunath, Rupinderpal Singh

Midfielders: Birendra Lakra, Sardar Singh (vice-captain), Manpreet Singh, Gurbaj Singh, Kothajit Singh Khadangbam

Forwards: S.V. Sunil, Dharamvir Singh, Sarvanjit Singh, Gurwinder Singh Chandi, Shivendra Singh, Danish Mujtaba, S.K. Uthappa, Tushar Khandker.