New Delhi, Oct 1 (IANS): Hockey India has named the 18-member Indian junior men's squad for the ninth Sultan of Johor Cup which is scheduled to take place from October 12-19 in Malaysia.

The team will be captained by Mandeep Mor and vice-captained by Sanjay, and will face-off against Malaysia, New Zealand, Japan, Australia and Great Britain in the round-robin league stage.

Dinachandra Singh Moirangthem and Sharda Nand Tiwari are the new additions to the team's defense unit since the 8-Nations tournament in June, while the experienced Dilpreet Singh joins the forward line.

The team will be certainly hoping to improve their performance in the 9th Sultan of Johor Cup after finishing sixth at the eight-nations tournament.

"The 9th Sultan of Johor Cup will be a fantastic experience for the Indian junior men's hockey team since top sides such as Australia and Great Britain will be taking part in the competition," Coach B J Kariappa said.

"The 9th Sultan of Johor Cup is an excellent tournament for the players to gauge their talent and find out on which aspects they should improve on," he added.

The squad:

Goalkeepers: Prashant Kumar Chauhan, Pawan

Defenders: Sanjay (vice-captain), Dinachandra Singh Moirangthem, Pratap Lakra, Suman Beck, Mandeep Mor (captain), Yashdeep Siwach, Sharda Nand Tiwari

Midfielders: Vishnu Kant Singh, Rabichandra Singh Moirangthem, Maninder Singh

Forwards: Dilpreet Singh, Sudeep Chirmako, Gursahibjit Singh, Uttam Singh, Rahul Kumar Rajbhar, Shilanand Lakra.