Black Sticks Name 20-Man Squad to Host India in Centenary Series

New Zealand have named the 20 men who will host India in a series 100 years in the making. The Black Sticks squad for the Centenary Series is out, and it’s a group built to mark the occasion properly.

The series commemorates a century since the Indian Army team toured New Zealand in 1926, a tour that featured Dhyan Chand and ended with India winning the first match 5-2 in Christchurch. The three-Test series back then finished 1-1. Across 21 matches on that tour, the visitors won 18, scored 192 goals, and Dhyan Chand got 80 of them. A hundred years on, the two countries meet again at Lloyd Elsmore Park in Auckland.

Hockey New Zealand named the squad on 20 October. There’s experience through it: Nic Woods, Sam Hiha, Dylan Thomas and Scott Cosslett bring the know-how, while Dean Clarkson, Zander Fraser and Javahn Jones are among the younger names pushing through. Richard Joyce and Matthew Ruetsch are the two goalkeepers.

The squad in full

Dean Clarkson, Zander Fraser, Javahn Jones, Richard Joyce (GK), Sam Hiha, Timothy Greenwood, Sam Lints, Aidan Sarikaya, Nic Woods, Joseph Morrison, Dylan Thomas, Scott Cosslett, Luke Holmes, Gus Nelson, Jonty Elmes, Ryan Parr, Patrick Ward, Benjamin Culhane, Matthew Ruetsch (GK), Tim Neild.

India, meanwhile, are bringing a young side of their own. Their 20-man squad, announced last week, is built around under-21 and India A players and captained by Sanjay. Craig Fulton has been open about building a new India towards Los Angeles 2028, and this tour is part of that.

The fixtures (all times PKT)

• Thursday 19 November, 10:30am: New Zealand v India
• Saturday 21 November, 8:00am: New Zealand v India
• Sunday 22 November, 6:00am: New Zealand v India

All three games are at Lloyd Elsmore Park, Auckland. Tickets run from $14.50 to $54.00, and the games will be live on TVNZ+ in New Zealand. Saturday’s match comes with a kabaddi exhibition and New Zealand Defence Force curtain-raisers, so it’s a full day out, not just a hockey game.

For our money, the hosts should be favourites at home, but this Indian side is young, fast and has nothing to lose. That’s a dangerous combination over three games in four days. The result matters, but so does the occasion: a hundred years of hockey between these two countries, and a series that both sides clearly want to win.