Last Updated: January 21, 2023, 11:43 IST
Hardik Singh File Photo (Photo by Darren Staples / AFP)
India suffered an enormous blow forward of their essential crossover match in opposition to New Zealand within the FIH World Cup as key midfielder Hardik Singh was dominated out of the event with a hamstring damage
Injured midfielder Hardik Singh was on Saturday dominated of the rest of the FIH Men’s Hockey World Cup, dealing a giant blow to India forward of their crossovers match in opposition to New Zealand right here on Sunday.
Hardik Singh was the livewire within the midfield in India’s first two matches in Pool D and sustained a hamstring damage in the course of the conflict with England on January 15. Having rested the teen for the match in opposition to Wales, and subsequent evaluation, Hardik has now been dominated out of the World Cup, Hockey India confirmed on Saturday.
His absence can be a giant setback for India as they’ve been struggling within the attacking division, and likewise contemplating the truth that they are going to face defending champions Belgium within the quarterfinals in the event that they beat New Zealand on Sunday.
Hardik can be changed by alternate participant Raj Kumar Pal.
“Having rested the teen for the match in opposition to Wales, and subsequent evaluation, Hardik has now been dominated out of the FIH Odisha Hockey Men’s World Cup 2023 Bhubaneswar-Rourkela,” Hockey India mentioned in a press release.
Talking about the decision made by the team management, chief coach Graham Reid said: “Overnight we had to make the difficult decision of replacing Hardik Singh in the Indian team for Sunday’s match vs New Zealand and the subsequent World Cup matches.
“While the injury was not as severe as the initial incident suggested, time was not on our side and after our ongoing thorough rehabilitation process and functional and on-field assessment today, it has been decided that we will replace Hardik with Raj Kumar Pal.
“While it is extremely disappointing for Hardik personally of course, given how well he played in our first two matches, we are excited at the prospects of Raj Kumar joining the group for the remaining World Cup matches,” Reid added.
Having completed second in Pool D, India might want to win in opposition to New Zealand within the crossover match to ebook a quarterfinal berth.
India wanted to beat Wales — eight locations beneath them in world rankings — by a margin of eight targets to prime Pool D and qualify instantly for the quarterfinals however the residence facet might solely notch up a 4-2 win on Thursday.
India are actually up in opposition to the Black Sticks who’re positioned third in Pool C with a win and two losses.
(With inputs from Agencies)
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