We don’t have proper second string team to send to CWG’
The Hindu
COVID has hurt talent-spotting and grooming in the last two years, says Baskaran
The real reasons for Hockey India’s decision to withdraw the men’s and women’s teams from next year’s Commonwealth Games in Birmingham may be caught in a bit of a haze. But Olympic gold medallist V. Baskaran believes that Graham Reid, the Indian men’s team’s head coach, had a big say in the matter.
“If you look at it, Reid now calls the tune because he has delivered a bronze at the Olympics. So, I think HI has decided to go with him,” said Baskaran, the captain of the triumphant Indian team at the 1980 Moscow Olympics, in a chat with The Hindu.
The hockey champion of the Asian Games at Hangzhou (China, Sept. 10-25) will directly qualify for the 2024 Paris Olympics and the problem is the Commonwealth Games (July 28-Aug. 8) take place just a month before that in Birmingham.