Hockey News: FIH President Narinder Batra slams Indian hockey team

Former Hockey India President and current FIH President Narinder Batra has accused the Indian hockey players of ‘indiscipline and groupism’ during the World Cup last month in Bhubaneswar. Batra labelled the Indian team as ‘complainers, bad and sore losers. Batra also took a dig at Harendra Singh for his comments for making ‘irresponsible’ statements after the team’s 2-1 defeat to the Netherlands in the quarterfinals. Batra's comment did not go down well with former India goalkeeper Ashish Ballal as he reminded Narinder Batra of his own comments against the referees after India lost to Australia in the 2016 Champions Trophy final. The current IOA President Batra also criticised forward Akashdeep Singh for making ‘inappropriate remarks at the technical table’ after losing the quarter-final match against the Netherlands. According to Mr Batra, the indiscipline and groups that has crept within the team and team management need to end and stop. Mr Batra did not stop here and also slammed goalkeeper PR Sreejesh, whose performance at the World Cup was criticised by Hockey India’s high-performance panel. The panel has recommended that India should find alternatives to Sreejesh in the build-up to the Tokyo Olympics.