https://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/
Hardik Rai replaced in Hockey World Cup
A young midfielder Hardik Rai now will not be playing in the 2023 Hockey World Cup. He is replaced by Raj Kumar Pal and will play against New Zealand in this World Cup. Hardik Rai, unfortunately, got out of this tournament due to a hamstring injury.
India might have to suffer in Sunday’s match against New Zealand, as Hardik Rai is injured and will be not playing. This injury happened when India’s match was against England and there was a draw with 0-0 scores.
In their first match of India against Spain, this very young and dynamic midfielder scored and showed a great performance on the field. But now we will not be able to see his amazing performance in further matches.
Graham Reid the Indian Hockey team coach has given the statement that “it was a very difficult decision to take and make Hardik ruled out from this World Cup Hockey match.”
But after a discussion with the teammates and heads they all decided after seeing his injury that he should not play further and take care of his injury. When this official statement came out the coach of the Indian team said that it was a very difficult situation and a hard decision to take.
Hockey’s team coach Reid has also given the statement that this was a very difficult time for them and the full Hockey team but then took any decision. He also added that they are excited to see a new player and his performance on the field for the further coming matches.
This decision of replacement was taken overnight as the match was to happen the next day. If we talk about Hardik, was born in the month of September 1998. He is an outstanding defender. In the sport of hockey, his father played professionally as well.
He made his debut in the Asian Champions Trophy in the year 2018 which was held in October month at Muscat. He participated in many domestic-level matches and has also won in many of them.
He also played in many international matches like Asia Cup in the under 18 age in the year 2016 and also won in many international tournaments. He also received a gold medal in the 4 Nation International Tournaments in the year 2016.
If we talk about his replacement Raj Kumar Pal, he was born in the month of May 1998 and he is a very good midfielder. He made his debut in the international field in the month of February 2020 at FIH Pro League conducted for men.
He has so far won two bronze medals, the first in the Asia Cup at Jakarta in the year 2022 and the second one in Asian Champions Trophy at Dhaka in the year 2021. They both represent the Indian Hockey team and we hope that further matches will go well like the previous ones. We wish them good luck.
