Paris Olympics: This Indian hockey team has killer instinct, says Ashok Kumar

It was a delightful Sunday for Indian hockey in a noisy atmosphere at the Yves du Manoir Stadium as the Harmanpreet Singh-led side, who reduced to 10 men in the second quarter, defeated Great Britain 4-2 in a thrilling shootout to enter the 2024 Paris Olympics semi-finals.

Ashok Kumar, the former hockey player and son of the legendary Dhyan Chand, was appreciative of the team’s performance in the quarter-finals, which propelled them to enter the semi-finals in successive Olympic games, after winning the bronze medal at Tokyo 2020 event.

“The technical improvement of the players in this team has been remarkable. Because of that, all the matches we have played so far have been in line with our expectations. Our goalkeeper, Sreejesh, our goal scoring machine, Harmanpreet, and the other players who are playing are definitely remarkable. We have to praise them, even if someone doesn’t appreciate them, as yes, they are playing like a team.”

“This team is playing on their (Sreejesh and Harmanpreet) shoulders. When we used to play, when our Olympian Inam-ur Rahman was in the Indian airlines, I used to play on his shoulders, as there was the feeling that I can do well due to him. So, the confidence and killer instinct that I used to develop, I saw that in the players today,” said Ashok in an exclusive conversation with IANS.

Captain Harmanpreet opened India’s account in the 22nd minute to register his seventh goal of the tournament while Lee Morton scored Great Britain’s only goal five minutes later as the match ended in a 1-1 draw after full time, where the Indian defence was top-class, despite Amit Rohidas being given a red card after his hockey stick hit William Calnan’s face.

In the high-stakes shootout, Harmanpreet, Sukhjeet, Lalit Upadhyay and Raj Kumar Pal scored for India, while PR Sreejesh became the saviour after saving Phillip Roper’s attempt and doing exceedingly well in his goalkeeping duties throughout the dramatic game.

“Yes, Harmanpreet is there and Sreejesh is there, as he will stop the goal while the former will score. (Amit) Rohidas will stop the team, as he has a good tackling. Harmanpreet is an all-rounder player. He plays forward as well. Vivek Sagar scores as well. He stops the corner as well. He is a master in defence as well. Plus, Hardik, Manpreet and Jugraj are there.”

“So, these players depend on each other. I am talking about the mentality of the players. They depend on each other. If I make a mistake, the other player will stop it. So, this is confidence. When confidence develops, the killing instinct is developed, and we can see that in this team. As a result, we can see the team winning,” added Ashok, a member of the 1975 World Cup winning team.

India will now play the winner of the quarter-finals between Germany and Argentina in the semi-final clash on Tuesday, and Ashok signed off by expressing confidence in the current team showcasing that killer instinct again in the final four clash.

“You are right to say that we will revive the old era of hockey. But one thing is for sure, that today's hockey is very different from that time. But our history is connected to hockey, and that history has been very golden, and that is what we want to see through these players. Now, the two matches that will be played - the semifinal and the final, this Indian team will go out on the field with the same hope and the same killer instinct.”