Hockey
How India can deal with Hardik Singh's injury
Hockey World Cup: India were dealt a big blow when midfielder Hardik Singh had to go off with a hamstring injury in the match vs England.
India have made a good start to their Hockey World Cup campaign - beating Spain and drawing against England - but are now in danger of losing the services of one of their best players.
Hardik Singh, the midfielder who has been one of the standout performers of the tournament so far, has undergone an MRI scan on Tuesday morning after having to walk out of the match vs England on Sunday with a hamstring injury.
Whether the 24-year-old will be available as the campaign gets into serious territory from now on will be certain in another day as the team waits for results from the hospital. But the team, though no replacements have been called up for now, will have some alternate strategies chalked out.
What makes India's next match against Wales important is that they would need to win by a big margin to ensure they finish above England in the group so that they directly get into the quarterfinals. If only Hardik - who scored a superb solo goal against Spain, and troubled the England goal frequently - was available!
There are two replacement options that India have to their 18-man squad - midfielder Raj Kumar Pal and defender Jugraj Singh.
What makes it problematic though is that if India call up either of these two players, Hardik cannot be fielded in subsequent games.
Possible changes
In case Hardik is ruled out for the next few matches, Raj Kumar could be drafted in as a like-for-like replacement. However, given how instrumental Hardik has been in the team's transition from defence to attack in the last two matches, this change could weaken India's overall game.
The other option that the team management has is to replace Hardik with Jugraj Singh. This change will force a few other changes in strategy, but could in the long run strengthen India's game.
The first advantage that drafting in Jugraj will bring is that it will reinforce India's penalty corner game. One of India's vulnerabilities is that once Harmanpreet Singh is closed down after PCs, the others often seem toothless. Having Jugraj positioned beside Harmanpreet could take a lot of pressure off the captain and give the opposition defenders multiple targets to rush down.
However, having a defender in the team in Hardik's place means that a big change in formation is required.
Manpreet Singh, who has been playing as halfback, linking up with the defence, could be pushed further up the field. If he plays an advanced role, fitting in for Hardik, then India stand a better chance to keep their smooth transitions from defence to attack.