The Bangladesh hockey team will depart for Indonesia on the night of 14 April to take part in the Asian Hockey Federation (AHF) Cup. Before their departure, the Bangladesh Hockey Federation announced the final squad on Sunday, naming 18 players in the main team and six on standby.
Notably, Obaidul Hossain and Abed Uddin have earned their maiden call-ups to the national side.
On 20 February, a total of 57 players took part in the Cooper Test. From there, 45 players were shortlisted to begin preparations for the AHF Cup at the Maulana Bhashani Stadium.
Following several days of training camp, the federation announced a preliminary squad of 33 players on 5 March. This was later trimmed to 24, with head coach A N M Mamunur Rashid finalizing the squad today.
It is understood that Bangladesh will travel to Indonesia without the six standby players. Should any of the main squad suffer injury or illness; the reserves will then be called upon.
The AHF Cup, which also serves as the qualifier for the Asia Cup, will be held in Jakarta from 17 to 27 April. Bangladesh, who have won the last four editions of the tournament, will be aiming to retain their crown once again.
However, the squad will be without star player Russell Mahmud, who has been ruled out due to a new federation policy barring players over the age of 32 from the national team. Former captain Sarwar Hossain and Milon Hossain also missed out as the squad was reduced from 33 to 24 players.
In the seventh edition of the AHF Cup, Bangladesh have been drawn in Pool ‘B’ alongside Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Thailand, and Kazakhstan.
Bangladesh will kick off their campaign on 18 April against Kazakhstan. The tournament will conclude with the final on 27 April, following the preliminary round and classification matches.
Bd-pratidin English/ Afia
