The Asian event, scheduled from October 11 to 22, will be the first assignment under new coach Sjoerd Marijne.
After the sacking of senior men's team head coach Roelant Oltmans last month, Hockey India (HI) high performance director David John had warned that there might be changes in player personnel next.
There have been, but much on predicted lines. HI on Saturday announced an 18-member squad for next month's Asia Cup, bringing rested seniors back into the mix while booting out a few youngsters from the last tour of Europe.
The Asian event, scheduled from October 11 to 22, will be the first assignment under new coach Sjoerd Marijne.
The most notable return in the team is that of former captain Sardar Singh, whose place in the side was under speculation after being made to sit out of the Europe tour. Talks of his future only intensified after Oltmans was fired, but John made it clear that the experienced midfielder has it in him to play for another two-three years.
"He is one of our most experienced players," John said on Saturday. "He's making a lot of changes himself. He has now got a dedicated program to improve his speed, his foot speed and his legs speed. If he keeps improving this, then we can expect Sardar to play for another two-three years."
Apart from Sardar, Marijne will have SV Sunil, Akashdeep Singh and Satbir Singh to add experience to the forward line, with Harmanpreet Singh and Surender Kumar are back to solidify the defence.
A surprise exclusion from the list of juniors is Harjeet Singh, who was the captain of last year's victorious Junior World Cup side. Besides him, Gurinder Singh, Amit Rohidas, Nilkanta Sharma, Mandeep Singh and Armaan Qureshi have been shown the door after the Europe tour, in which India beat The Netherlands twice but lost to Belgium as many times.
"We've retained some of the younger players who did very well in the last couple of tours, and we brought in five of the experienced players that we rested. We've got a really good mix of youth and experience," John said.
The Australian added that the sidelined youngsters will get a chance to prove their mettle again in the Australian Hockey League, in which India have been invited to participate like last year.
"They will now realise more as to what is expected of them. Most of those youngsters will go to Australia for the Australian Hockey League," he said.
John said the injured Rupinderpal Singh and Birendra Lakra, two vital cogs in the team, are recovering well and will be available for selection in the Hockey World League Final in India in December.
"Whoever plays the best in Asia Cup and Australia will be selected for HWL Final. Only form players will make the cut for that, so there's going to be a lot of pressure for selection in that tournament," John said.
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
 "david-john-zeenews")
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
)
)
)
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}