2021 Tokyo Olympics | Time spent together during lockdown helped the Indian hockey team, asserts Gurjant Singh

It was in March 2020 that the Covid-19 struck havoc in India and soon a lockdown was imposed on the entire country. It meant that there was no possible means to travel from one place to another, the athletes were stuck at different places in the country, including the Indian hockey team.

Luckily, the Indian men’s hockey team were stationed at the SAI centre, in Bengaluru, following which the entire squad spent quite a lot of time over there. Indian hockey star Gurjant Singh feels that the time spent by the players in the national camp due to the pandemic situation has helped the team come together.

"We all have been together at the camp since one year, and I don't think any other team would have spent this much amount of time together during the lockdown. I feel that is one of the plus points that everyone has been together for such a long time. After the nationwide lockdown ended we never stopped training," said Gurjant Singh, in a Hockey India release.

He insisted that the recent performances on their tours to Argentina and Europe are a result of the understanding the players have developed amongst themselves during that period. The India team is aiming to break the 40-year old Olympic-medal jinx at the 2021 Tokyo Games, later this year.

"We kept working hard and kept on communicating with each other throughout the time spent together. I think it has built a natural understanding among us and because of that, the team has been working as a unit. So yeah, that's one of the biggest reasons behind our successful tours to Europe and Argentina," added Gurjant.