How Dilpreet Singh Has Made his National Comeback Count!
Dilpreet Singh has been one of the finds in the forwardline for the Indian men in the Bhubaneshwar leg of the 2024-25 Pro League – the Butala lad has more or less made his ‘national comeback complete’ with an eye-popping performance at Bhubaneshwar. The nimble-footed forward, whose omission from the 2024 Paris Olympics squad caught many by surprise, marked his return to the national fold during the 2024 two Test series against world champions Germany. A robust HIL performance only shored up his international playing career.
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The 25-year-old was not picked for India’s first leg tie against Spain but was instrumental in helping the Blueshirts hit the winning ways after the Pro League opener blues. Dilpreet, who played his part in India’s bronze medal finish at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics, orchestrated a nifty pass that led to Mandeep Singh scoring the first goal against Spain in the 2nd leg tie and subsequently he brought his opportunism to the fore, slotting a home a Gurjant Singh pass to announce his national comeback in style.
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The youngster, who scored a crucial goal in the Olympic quarterfinal against Great Britain at Tokyo, made his senior international debut against Japan in Four Nation Invitational Tournament at Tauranga at the age of 18 – a match India won with consummate ease (6-0) – he scored a brace on his international debut (his team-mate Vivek Sagar Prasad also made his debut in the same match) under Dutch coach Sjoerd Marijne. Dilpreet has played under four different coaches – Harendra Singh, Graham Reid, and now Craig Fulton.
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A product of Maharaja Ranjit Singh Hockey Academy as well Surjit Hockey Academy, Dilpreet was initially pushed into hockey by his father Balwinder Singh, who was a hockey player in Army. The former Indian Oil-now Punjab Police-employed forward has been part of many success stories with the national side and a regular member of the Indian team until mid-2022 when he started to be in and out of the side.
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He lost his place for the 2022 Commonwealth Games and subsequently it was a tale of getting picked for one odd tournament and again cooling his heels outside the national team. His absence was conspicuous at the start of 2023 – he was cold-shouldered for the 2023 World Cup held in India as well as other high-profile tourney such as the 2023 Asian Games. Dilpreet was also not considered for the 2023 Asian Champions Trophy, 2023-24 Pro League, and 2024 Asian Champions Trophy.
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His playing career highpoints include finishing runners-up at the 2018 Champions Trophy at Breda – he was also part of the bronze-winning 2018 Asian Games squad, as well as a member of Indian team that was declared joint-winners alongside Pakistan at the 2018 Asian Champions Trophy. Dilpreet actively participated in the 2021-22 Pro League and 2023-23 Pro League where India finished fourth across both editions.
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Dilpreet had also featured in the 2018 World Cup and 2018 Commonwealth Games, where India finished outside the podium. He has a penchant for scoring hat-tricks – at the 2018 Asian Games he scored a hat-trick in India’s 7-0 win vs Indonesia – at the 2018 Asian Champions Trophy he scored a hat-trick in in India’s 11-0 win vs Oman and at 2021 Asian Champions Trophy he scored a hat-trick in in India’s 9-0 win vs Bangladesh.
With 93 international caps and 32 international goals, Dilpreet surely brings a lot to the Indian men’s hockey team table. One hopes that his recent performances help cement his spot in the national side.
