Bengaluru: The Indian men’s team for the Asian Volleyball Championship to be held in Tehran in Iran has been announced. Malayalees Erin Varghese, Shameemudheen and John Joseph are included in the team. Apart from this, Tamil Nadu player Jerome Vinith who plays for Kerala, and former Kerala player Muthuswami are also included in the team. 

The tournament will be held from August 19-26. India is contesting in Pool E alongside Qatar and Afghanistan. India’s first match is scheduled against Qatar on August 19. The fourth position secured in the year 2005 is so far India’s best performance in the tournament. India had secured ninth spot in the competition last year. The Indian team will leave for Tehran on Wednesday.

Centre blocker John Joseph is the star player of Kozhikode SAI. Similarly, Erin Varghese plays for Kerala Police and Shameemudheen has been a champion campaigner for Services so far. It should be noted that Jerome, Vineeth and Muthuswami were members of the Kerala team that clinched gold at the National Games held in Gujarat.

Former Indian captain Tom Joseph is the assistant coach of the national volleyball team. Interestingly, Tom had made his debut in Indian colours in the Junior Volleyball Championship held in Tehran in 1998.

Team: Muthuswami, Vinayakan, Vinit Kumar, Jerome Vinith, Ashwal Rai, John Joseph, Shameemudheen, Asmathulla, Amit Gulia, Rohit Kumar, Erin Varghese, Hariprasad.