Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], April 29 : The Indian Rugby Men's team led by Vikas Khatri will play Qatar and Kazakhstan in Division 2 starting from Sunday at the Aspire Warmup Track field, Doha, Qatar.
The three teams will be competing in a round-robin format starting on April 30 till May 6 2023 to qualify for the Division 2 playoffs later this year.
"We are really looking forward to the tournament in Qatar. We have seen Qatar and Kazakhstan play and they are extremely well-coached and managed teams and we know it is going to be extremely difficult but it is a fantastic opportunity for the players from India to go and play fantastic opposition. We are all looking forward to it and we cannot wait," said Naas Botha, Head Coach, Indian Men's Rugby, as quoted by Rugby India.
The Indian team qualified for Division 2 after decisively beating Bangladesh and Nepal, 82-0 and 86-0 respectively in the Asia Rugby Division 3 - South Region tournament held at Rabindra Sarobar stadium, Kolkata in November 2022. Playing in Division 2 allows the Indian team to prove their mettle against some of the best teams in Asia and is a stepping stone in Rugby India's roadmap. The winners of this championship will further get an opportunity to play for promotion into the highly coveted division 1 and be a part of the elite group of Rugby Teams in Asia.
The Indian Squad consists of Vikas Khatri (Captain), Prince Khatri (Vice Captain), Harjap Singh, Sanket Santaji Patil, Shridhar Shrikant Nigade, Suraj Prasad, Sukumar Hembrom, Akash Balmiki, Arpan Chhetri, Rajdeep Saha, Dhanasekar Karunakar, Neeraj Khatri, Deepak Kumar Punia, Mohit Khatri, Ajay Deswal , Mannu Tanwar, Pradeep Kumar Tanwar, Hitesh Dagar, Shivam Shukla, Prabal Giri, Gaurav Kumar, Surinder Singh, Jitendra Kumar, Suresh Kumar, Devendra Raju Padir, and Bhupinder Singh.
The Indian Rugby Football Union (IRFU) is the sole governing body for the sport of Rugby in India. The IRFU, responsible for the growth and development of the sport of Rugby across the country, is recognized by the Ministry of Youth Affairs & Sports, Government of India and is a full member of the Indian Olympic Association (IOA), Asian Rugby Football Union (ARFU) & World Rugby.
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