Hockey World Cup: Hardik Singh ruled out

In a big blow to India, star midfielder Hardik Singh has been ruled out of the ongoing 2023 Men's Hockey World Cup in Odisha. The 24-year-old will be replaced by reserve player Rajkumar Pal in the squad.

This development comes just a day prior to India's all important crossover clash against New Zealand for a place in the quarterfinal of the prestigious tournament.

Hardik Singh was one of the standout players for India in their first two Pool D matches. The youngster with his threatening runs and creativity posed constant threats to the opponents.

He even scored a goal with a stunning solo run in India's World Cup opener against Spain at the Birsa Munda Hockey Stadium in Rourkela.

Hardik Singh suffered a hamstring injury, late in India's second match against England. He had to carried off the field then.

Indian coach Graham Reid had then said that the injury looks bad, before backtracking and stating "it is not as bad as it looked."

Hardik Singh was then rested for India's final pool stage clash against Wales, which the men in blue won 4-2.

"Overnight we had to make the difficult decision of replacing Hardik Singh in the Indian Team for Sunday's match vs New Zealand and the subsequent World Cup matches," Reid said in a statement.

"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," the coach added.

Hardik's replacement Rajkumar Pal has a total of 21 international caps against his name with 4 goals. He made his debut for India back in February 2020.