NEW DELHI, July 7: Veteran striker Dhanraj Pillay will lead India in next month’s Champions Trophy field hockey tournament in the Netherlands, it was announced on Monday.

The 18-man squad is the same that defeated Australia and Pakistan in a Sydney tournament last month before winning the Hamburg Masters against world champions Germany, Argentina and Spain.

Germany, Australia, Pakistan, Argentina, India and the Netherlands will compete in the elite six-nation event in Amstelveen from Aug 16 to 24.

India, winners of eight Olympic gold medals, have never won the annual Champions Trophy title contested by the top six hockey-playing nations of the world.

The Indians finished fourth in last year’s tournament played in Cologne, Germany.

Each team plays the other once in the preliminary league with the top two teams contesting the final.

The high-profile game between India and Pakistan is set for Aug 22.

Squad: Dhanraj Pillay (captain), Devesh Chauhan, Kamaldeep Singh, Dilip Tirkey, Kanwalpreet Singh, Jugraj Singh, Ignace Tirkey, Viren Rasquinha, Vikram Pillay, Bimal Lakra, V.S. Vinay, Baljit Saini, Gagan Ajit Singh, Prabhjot Singh, Tejbir Singh, Deepak Thakur, Sandeep Michael, Baljit Dhillon.

Coach: Rajinder Singh.—AFP