Born June 26, 1992, in Mithapur, Punjab. It was around 2002 when as a 10-year-old, the now captain of the senior national team, got consumed by the sport. He enlisted himself at the Surjit hockey academy in 2005 and made his international debut for the junior India team in 2011. In 2013 he became the captain of the junior India men’s hockey team captaining the side in the Men’s Hockey Junior World Cup. Under his captaincy, the junior team won the Gold at the Sultan of Johor Cup in 2013. A quick-moving midfielder, Manpreet was named Asia’s Junior Player of the Year by the Asian Hockey Federation, in 2014. He has retained his ability still, that to scorch the pace and fall back to midfield in quick time whenever needed.
He was part of the senior team that won Gold at the 2014 Asian Games in Incheon, South Korea,
Part of the team that took home a Silver at the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, Scotland,
Bronze at Hockey World League, at Raipur, in 2014-15,
Silver at the Men’s Hockey Champions Trophy, at London, 2016.
Silver at the Sultan Azlan Shah cup, at Malaysia, in 2016.
Silver at South Asian Games, Guwahati, in 2016.
Before India’s first match at the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup, in 2016, Manpreet got the news of demise of his father. A crestfallen Manpreet returned home to perform final rites. he skipped the first two matches when his Mother gathered him to go back and befitting his Father’s urge to give his best in playing for the country. India didn’t have the sprightly Manpreet to lord over the midfield and lost to Australia. The Australian team before the match observed a minute’s silence and wore black arm bands in expressing their solidarity and condolence to Manpreet. The midfield was alive with Manpreet back at the helm and India won next two matches against Canada and Pakistan against whom Manpreet scored a goal within first four minutes of the game.
In 2017, Asia Cup, Dhaka, in the absence of regular skipper P Sreejesh who was ruled with an injury Manpreet was handed the captaincy and India won the Asia Cup.
Before he took over the reins of the senior side Manpreet had already earned acclaim in plenty coupled with the affability with co-players, staying positive in all situations was building unto leadership traits. He was an instantaneous choice for leading the team.
His captaincy stint continued as India won the bronze medal at the 2017 Hockey World League Final.
Silver at the Champions Trophy in Breda, Netherlands, in 2018.
India also clinched the Asian Champions Trophy, in Muscat 2018, defeating arch-rivals Pakistan with Manpreet at the helm again. Bronze at the Asian Games in Jakarta, 2018.
He was awarded the Arjuna Award by the Govt. of India in 2018
