BHUBANESWAR: India suffered a massive blow ahead of Sunday's significant crossover match against New Zealand in the FIH Odisha Hockey Men's World Cup 2023 when key midfielder Hardik Singh was ruled out of the tournament with a hamstring injury.
India's midfielder, Hardik Singh, was the centre of attention in the team's first two Pool D games before suffering a hamstring injury against England on January 15. Hardik has been eliminated from the World Cup, Hockey India said on Saturday, after the young player was rested for the match against Wales and subsequent evaluation. Hockey India also announced that Raj Kumar Pal would take over for Hardik.
Graham Reid, the head coach of the Indian squad, explained the difficult choice the team management had to make: "Overnight we had to make the decision to replace Hardik Singh in the Indian Team for Sunday's play against New Zealand and the remaining World Cup fixtures."
"Even though the injury was not as bad as the original occurrence suggested, time was not on our side, and it has been decided to replace Hardik with Raj Kumar Pal following our ongoing thorough rehabilitation procedure and today's functional and on-field examination. We are pleased about the possibility of Raj Kumar joining the squad for the remaining World Cup matches, even though it is obviously very upsetting for Hardik personally considering how brilliantly he played in our first two matches "Reid was quoted as saying in the Saturday press statement from Hockey India.
India, which placed second in Pool D, must defeat New Zealand in the crossover game on Sunday in order to advance to the quarterfinals.
Hockey WC: India beat Wales 4-2 in Bhubaneswar