Hockey India on Thursday named the 20-member Indian team that will compete at the FIH Women’s Junior World Cup in South Africa. The event was originally scheduled to take place last year but had been postponed due to the pandemic, and will now start on April 1 in Potchefstroom.

The Indian team, grouped in Pool D along with Germany, Malaysia and Wales, will be captained by Salima Tete with Ishika Chaudhary as her deputy. They will kick-start their campaign against Wales on April 2, followed by the match against Germany a day later, and Malaysia on April 5.

The quarterfinals will be held on April 8, followed by the semi-finals on April 10, and the final on April 12.

The 20-member squad includes goalkeepers Bichu Devi Kharibam, who recently made her Senior India debut at the FIH Hockey Pro League matches against Germany, and Khushboo. The defenders are Marina Lalramnghaki, Preeti, Priyanka, Ishika Chaudhary and Akshata Abaso Dekhale, who also made her senior team debut against Germany recently.

Reet, Ajmina Kujur, Baljeet Kaur and Vaishnavi Vitthal Phalke will form the Indian midfield along with the trio of Salima Tete, Sharmila Devi and Lalremsiami – who were a part of the Tokyo Olympics team.

The forwards are Lalrindiki, Jiwan Kishori Toppo, Mumtaz Khan, Beauty Dungdung, Deepika and Sangita Kumari, who also made her senior debut recently.

“After a long wait, our players are definitely ready to start their Junior World Cup experience. It was difficult to finalize the selection as all players showed a lot of progress in the past months which is great to see,” chief coach Janneke Schopman said.

“With a couple of players making their debut for the senior team in the Pro League recently, I believe that the added experience will have a positive influence. The team overall has a nice mixture of different skills and talents and am excited to see them taking on the best teams in the world at Under-21 level.

The Indian junior women’s team’s best show in recent times was at the FIH Junior Women’s World Cup in 2013 when they finished with a bronze medal after beating England in a shootout.

India’s first match of the tournament, against Wales, starts at 1230 hrs IST, and will be live on watch.hockey.

Squad:

Goalkeepers

Bichu Devi Kharibam
Khushboo

Defenders

Marina Lalramnghaki
Preeti
Priyanka
Ishika Chaudhary (vice-captain)
Akshata Abaso Dekhale

Midfielders

Vaishnavi Vitthal Phalke
Salima Tete (Captain)
Reet
Ajmina Kujur
Sharmila Devi
Lalremsiami
Baljeet Kaur

Forwards

Lalrindiki
Jiwan Kishori Toppo
Mumtaz Khan
Beauty Dungdung
Deepika
Sangita Kumari

Standbys
Madhuri Kindo
Neelam
Manju Chorsiya
Rutuja Dadaso Pisal
Annu