BHUBANESWAR: India's best player of the pool stage, Hardik Singh, has been ruled out of the Men's Hockey World Cup here because of a hamstring strain that hasn't fully recovered to allow him to play further role in India's campaign.
India have opted for a like-for-like replacement in the form of alternate player and midfielder Raj Kumar Pal who now has big shoes to fill in as India prepare for the knockout game in the crossovers against New Zealand on Sunday.
"Overnight we had to make the difficult decision of replacing Hardik Singh in the Indian team for Sunday’s match versus New Zealand and the subsequent World Cup matches," said India's chief coach Graham Reid.
"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," he added.
Hardik got injured in the last five minutes of India's second pool game against England and has since been sidelined. He was seen walking around the pitch at the team's training sessions subsequently, but didn't feature in India's third and final pool match against Wales on January 19.
"While it is extremely disappointing for Hardik personally, of course, given how well he played in our first two (pool) matches, we are excited at the prospects of Raj Kumar joining the group for the remaining World Cup matches," Reid said.
India finished second in Pool D, behind England on goal difference and thus couldn't earn a direct entry into the quarterfinals. The hosts will now have to beat New Zealand on Sunday to make it to the last-eight stage.
