This edition of the event beginning in Birmingham on Friday was not on the priority list until the Asian Games were postponed by a year. With a full squad and an eye on bettering their performance in the competition, Harpreet Singh and Co landed in Birmingham earlier this week.
Having lost to England 1-2 in the bronze medal playoff and returned empty-handed in 2018, India are keen On the lessons learned from the Gold Coast debacle four years ago, skipper Harpreet said, "In the last CWG, things didn't go our way. We underestimated a few teams like Wales in the group stage.
In this edition, we want to win a medal. We won't underestimate any team. In every match, we will focus on our game plan and give our best.
"India, ranked fifth in the world, are in Pool B alongside Ghana, England, Canada and Wales. Harpreet, who will feature in his landmark 300th match in India colors when the team takes on Ghana in its tournament opener on Sunday, stressed that the team had dealt with the weight of expectations as CWG will be the team's first major outing after the bronze-winning performance at the Tokyo Olympics last year.
Chief coach Graham Reid broke down the pressure factor and explained, "I don't think anybody's expectations from us are more than what we have from ourselves. We have high expectations of what we want from ourselves as a team and individually, and that keeps up the pressure on us in a good way."
If India got past the league stage, stern challenges await them, but none bigger than Australia.
In the 128 matches the two teams have played against each other, Australia have won 85 while India have topped in 22 contests with 21 matches ending in a draw.
Apart from skill, one of the key elements to get past Australia, according to Reid, will be India's mindset. "One thing that we would never do is take Australia lightly. Everyone puts Australia on a pedestal and rightly so since they have won a lot over the years. But to be able to beat them, we need to change our mindset and understand that we are also good and can compete at the highest level," Reid pointed out.
Indian men’s hockey team captain Harpreet Singh hailed the team’s mindset as they ended a 41-year-old medal wait at the Olympics.
The players were crestfallen after the 2-5 defeat against Belgium in the semi-finals, but the team picked themselves up ahead of the bronze medal clash.
“We said to ourselves that we have 60 minutes in our hands and if we give our best in these 60 minutes we can return home with smiles on our faces.”
The Indian men’s hockey team scripted history in the just-concluded Tokyo Games by winning a medal, a bronze, after a hiatus of 41 years. India last of the eight Olympic gold medals came way back in the 1980 Moscow Games.
“The feeling has been great. It was my third Olympics, and this time as captain. My first Olympics in 2012 was a disaster because we didn’t win any match. But then we improved and won medals in Asian Games and Commonwealth Games. In 2016, we played well but couldn’t clear the quarter-finals,” Harpreet said.
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