Hockey WC: Indian midfielder Hardik Singh to undergo MRI scan

Rourkela (Odisha)[India], January 17 (ANI): India hockey player Hardik Singh will undergo an MRI scan on Tuesday morning in Bhubaneswar as on Sunday’s match against England the midfielder was reportedly helped off the field after he suffered a hamstring injury.

Hardik sustained the injury in the Pool D match against England which ended in a 0-0 draw in the ongoing FIH Men’s Hockey World Cup 2023. “On the basis of the MRI results, the team management will assess the extent of his hamstring injury and take a call on his availability for the India Vs Wales match. At the moment no replacement request has been put forward to the FIH,” Hockey India said in an official statement.

The 24-year-old midfielder has been in terrific form as he scored a brilliant solo goal in the match against Spain in the first Pool D match played at Birsa Munda Stadium in Rourkela where the hosts won 2-0. India are currently placed second in Pool D behind England with both teams having four points each in two games but the English side is ahead due to a better goal difference.

England will take on Spain in the last pool match on Thursday and if they manage to win it then the match against Wales will become a crucial encounter for India and the Harmanpreet Singh-led side will have to beat Wales by a bigger margin in order to top the pool table. The team that tops their pool table will avoid the cross-over match and straight away play in the quarter-final match. Both India and England are looking to finish on top of the pool D in order to avoid the cross-over.

India hockey squad: Abhishek, Surender Kumar, Manpreet Singh, Hardik Singh, Jarmanpreet Singh, Mandeep Singh, Harmanpreet Singh (captain), Lalit Upadhyay, Krishan Pathak, Nilam Sanjeep Xess, PR Sreejesh, Nilakanta Sharma, Shamsher Singh, Varun Kumar, Akashdeep Singh, Amit Rohidas (vice-captain), Vivek Sagar Prasad and Sukhjeet Singh.Reserve players: Jugraj Singh and Rajkumar Pal.