Indian men's hockey team definitely had a chance if the Olympics was held this year, claims Ashok Kumar

The Indian hockey team went off to the flier in the 2020 Hockey Pro League with a 5-2 win over the Netherlands, following which they had the better of heavyweights Belgium. But, the Covid-19 outbreak in March forced an abrupt halt to the event, with the Tokyo Olympics also pushed back by a year. The Indian team had been training at the SAI centre in Bengaluru during the lockdown, but not played competitive matches for a long time.

That has seen Indian legend Ashok Kumar confess that India had a chance of winning a medal if the Tokyo Olympics was staged this year, but he doubts whether they would be able to keep up the momentum they’ve gained in the past year. The former 1975 World Cup winner also added that the team will need to perform well in the build-up to the tournament which could make a world of difference for them.

"If the Olympics were held this year, we definitely had some chance. We had shown improvement and we could have got some good results there. Definitely, there is a break in momentum and it will really make a big difference. You can't say now (that we will win a medal). We will talk about it next year seeing how they perform in the build-up to the Olympics,” said Ashok Kumar, to PTI.

Ashok Kumar was a key member of India’s World Cup-winning side back in 1975 and even scored the winner against Pakistan in the title clash. According to him, it would also be very difficult for India’s head coach to assess the current situation of the team as they’ve been training behind closed doors during the pandemic and haven’t played any match for quite some time.

"Even (head coach) Graham Reid will have a big question mark going on his head now. Coaching is going on inside closed doors. Unless you see them in real matches, how will you assess... He's not a machine,” added the former player.