{"id":275128,"date":"2025-04-06T00:25:27","date_gmt":"2025-04-06T00:25:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/2025\/04\/06\/hockey-farmers-son-arshdeep-singh-impresses-in-the-hil-to-earn-indian-team-call-up\/"},"modified":"2025-04-06T00:25:27","modified_gmt":"2025-04-06T00:25:27","slug":"hockey-farmers-son-arshdeep-singh-impresses-in-the-hil-to-earn-indian-team-call-up","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/2025\/04\/06\/hockey-farmers-son-arshdeep-singh-impresses-in-the-hil-to-earn-indian-team-call-up\/","title":{"rendered":"Hockey: Farmer\u2019s son Arshdeep Singh impresses in the HIL to earn Indian team call-up"},"content":{"rendered":"
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At the sidelines of the Hockey India League in Rourkela, India men\u2019s team head coach Craig Fulton said that he was indeed looking at the tournament as a platform for selecting players into the senior squad ahead of the FIH Pro League in mid-February. On Thursday, when a 32-member team was named for the 8 matches coming up in Bhubaneswar, one of the notable young performers of the league saw his name added to the list: Hyderabad Toofans\u2019 Arshdeep Singh.<\/p>\n

Apart from his three goals for the Toofans in the league phase, Arshdeep\u2019s overall gameplay has been a standout feature of the teams\u2019 run to the semifinals. The 20-year-old from Leharka near Amritsar, Punjab made his junior team breakthrough at the Junior Men\u2019s Asia Cup in Oman late last year where he scored six goals. <\/p>\n

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Born to a farmer, Arshdeep started playing hockey seeing his elder brother, and eventually joined Roundglass Punjab from where he made his mark in the nationals.<\/p>\n

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Toofans\u2019 team director Siddharth Pandey, who is a level 3 FIH certified coach, had scouted Arshdeep in the domestic events and made him one of the primary targets and brought him on board for Rs 11.5 lakh at the auction. <\/p>\n

\u201cHis game intelligence really stands out for a young kid. I am a big fan of the work they do at Roundglass Punjab, from where Gurjot Singh has already made his senior debut. While he is a good player in own right, I personally feel Arshdeep is the one who is likely to have a long stint with the national side. It\u2019s a well-deserved call-up,\u201d Pandey says. <\/p>\n

Arshdeep, who is pursuing bachelor\u2019s degree in arts at Lyallpur khalsa College in Jalandhar<\/a>, said the first thing he did after hearing about his call-up was to speak to his family.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey were a big support for me when a few years back I felt like quitting the sport because I didn\u2019t make it to the camp after nationals. That was a tough phase for me, but my brother and parents backed me,\u201d Arshdeep told The Indian Express<\/a>. \u201cAnd HIL has now given me the platform to show my skills that have been recognised, without such exposure it\u2019d have been difficult. At Toofans, I have been learning a lot from Jacob Anderson (Australia) who has personally helped me with sharpening my shooting skills.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Pandey specifically pointed out Arshdeep\u2019s ability to win Penalty Corners on attack, with his hustle in the forward line and the knack of finding spaces standing out. \u201cYou just have to watch the match against Lancers, and up against legends like Arthur van Doren and Alexander Hendrickx, he ran circles and played fearlessly. Ghuma daala unko, if I could use a local expression to describe that performance,\u201d Pandey added.<\/p>\n

Arshdeep, along with 22-year-old Angad Bir Singh for Vedanta Kalinga Lancers, are the two notable new additions to the squad, while Yashdeep Siwach \u2013 son of former India captain Pritam Rani Siwach \u2013 also returns to the senior setup after playing in a much-changed squad at the 2022 Asia Cup. \u201cI have been scouting these players over the last few weeks and am excited to see what they do against some of the best international teams in the world,\u201d Fulton told Hockey India.<\/p>\n