Field hockey World Cup 2023: Ex-captain Baskaran sees a big chance for India to finish on the podium

India is still not over the Commonwealth Games finals defeat against Australia, and that might be causing some damage to the confidence of the team. 

In an interview with the former Indian hockey team captain, Baskaran, he expressed his expectations for India to end the World Cup on the podium. 

Ahead of the 2023 World Cup, Baskaran had the opportunity to recall incidents from the 1973 World Cup when India won the silver medal. 

Recalling the memories of the 1973 World Cup, Baskaran said, "I think many of them were surprised to see us do two warm-ups. The weather in Amstelveen was very cold and we really wanted to avoid injuries, so Jagmohan, our fitness trainer, would make us do two sessions of warm-up."

The 1973 Cup is remembered to date for two reasons. One, India finished second in the tournament and second because India defeated Pakistan in the semi-finals. The semi-finals won against Pakistan in 1973 still brings beautiful memories to the Indians who had seen the match. 

"The emotions were so high. The Indo-Pak war of 1971 was fresh in everyone's mind. Harcharan Singh and Harmik Singh were from Pathankot and they had seen the effects of that war quite closely, so naturally, we had that urge to win against them. The tempo was high and interestingly enough, the Netherlands crowd turned up in big numbers to support us," said Baskaran. 

Remembering his hockey days, Baskaran is confident that India has a great opportunity this time to finish on the podium next year. 

"I believe they can definitely finish on the podium in Odisha this time. They should move on from the CWG Final loss to Australia and ride on the confidence they gained from the Tokyo Olympic Games. The team is in the good hands of Graham Reid and the support staff. I believe they have a sure shot at a medal," said Baskaran while showing confidence in the Indian men's hockey team. 

According to the former captain, the team must get over the Commonwealth Games final defeat and move on to the World Cup. The veteran also believes that clearing the first hurdle, the first match against Spain, will bring confidence and boost to the team and is extremely important.