As the Indian team gears up for its opening match of the FIH Odisha Hockey Men’s World Cup against Spain, former captain of the Indian Hockey team Viren Rasquinha said that playing in the very tough pool is definitely not a “walk in the park” and added that the Men in Blue need to be intensely focussed right from the first match.
The marquee Hockey event will be held in Bhubaneswar and Rourkela from January 13 to January 29. India are placed in Pool D along with England, Wales and Spain.
The anticipation among hockey fans in India is at an all-time high as the Indian men’s hockey team start their FIH Odisha Hockey Men’s World Cup 2023 Bhubaneswar-Rourkela campaign against Spain on Friday at the stellar new Birsa Munda Hockey Stadium in Rourkela.
The hunger to build on the team’s success will be intense as India have bagged a bronze medal in 1971, silver in 1973 and gold in 1975, having its last podium finish at the world cup nearly 48 years ago.
Graham Reid, the Australian World Cup and Olympic medallist coaches the Indian side which is a blend of youth and experience and will be hoping to have a fruitful campaign this time around.
In an interaction with Star Sports, former captain of the Indian National Hockey team Viren Rasquinha said, “I think for starters, India has a very tough pool I would almost call it a pool of death with England, Spain, Wales in our pool. It’s definitely not a walk in the park, we’ve seen in the FIH Pro league India has lost to Spain, England is always is a tough team, Wales again have few players of Great Britain, they play a tough and physical game sometimes. So, in major tournaments, I’m not really a big fan of looking too much ahead. Our first goal is to get through a very tough pool and we have to stay intensely focussed right from the first match where we go up against Spain.”
Rasquinha further spoke on who the players to watch out for are in this young Indian side, he said, “I think some of the key players for India at this World Cup are going to be starting with the goalkeepers and defence. Really, both goalkeepers Sreejesh and Krishan Pathak are going to play a very important role now with this belief that if you want to win tournaments your goalkeeper has to have an excellent tournament.
So there is going to be a lot of burden of responsibility on the shoulders of Sreejesh and Krishan Pathak.”
Harmanpreet Singh, as usual, will be crucial for the Indian team in the match. Converting penalty corners, especially in the first quarter.
