The responsibility has increased in comparison to 2018. It has now been 47 years since India won the World Cup. Another miss, and the country’s once brilliance game will cross fifty years without even an elimination round appearance since the 1975 version.
However, India will play in a World Cup for the first time since 1982 as a medalist from the previous Olympics, which is positive. In July and August of the previous year, Coach Graham Reid was faced with a similar challenge. The last time India won an Olympic medal was 41 years ago.
A bronze in Tokyo marked the end of that wait. On the World Cup, the sport’s second-largest stage, Reid will face a similar challenge from January 13 to January 29 of the following year. Additionally, India’s World Cup performance will almost certainly be compared to the Olympic bronze.
With almost identical players going up against the same top teams at the World Cup.
A things shouldn’t change much if this Indian team can return to the podium at the Olympics. This time, that is the story of expectations. Harmanpreet will lead India as they try to end a 47-year drought THE 18 Last week, the Indian squad was unveiled, and most of the players chose themselves.
The exception to this is the well-known absence of India’s Tokyo Olympics hero Simranjeet Singh, who was previously taken off the list of core probables along with defender Varun. However, Simranjeet was reportedly asked to get fitter, and Varun was later recalled and is in the World Cup squad.
The focus is currently on the 18 athletes who will compete in the Odisha cities of Rourkela and Bhubaneswar, with the hope that the 25-year-old Simranjeet will not become history.Twelve of the 18 men on the World Cup squad are from the 2021 Olympic team that competed in Tokyo.
The captain’s armband will continue to be worn by drag flicker Harmanpreet Singh, who has been leading the team since the second half of 2022. Former captain Manpreet Singh will shepherd the midifield.
Hockey-WC-squad (India’s 2023 World Cup squad, courtesy of Hockey India) RETURN FROM INJURY .
While the return of playmaker Vivek Sagar Prasad is a welcome development, he, like Simranjeet, had been out of action since suffering a knee injury prior to the Commonwealth Games final in Birmingham.
Lalit Upadhyay, who suffered a knee injury at the National Games, is another player making a comeback. He thusly missed India’s Genius Association apparatuses as well as the visit through Australia.
Lalit and Vivek must have demonstrated their fitness during the two-day selection trials in Bengaluru to re-enter the team. However, sustained knee injuries in endurance sports can be difficult.
The notable omissions are Sumit, a midfielder, and the poacher Gurjant Singh, who has been left out of the 18 players because of this. Gurjant’s inconsistent behavior within the opponent’s circle may be the only factor that can settle the debate. However, that is also the situation with Lalit. Probably it came down to coach Reid’s preference once Lalit was found to be a good fit by the selectors.