New Delhi: The campaign of the Indian men's and women's teams in the Hockey World Cup 2026 ended in the second round itself. The men's team was eliminated from the competition after defeats against the Netherlands and Argentina. With this, the wait for the Indian men's hockey team to win a medal in the World Cup after 1975 became longer.
After India's exit from the World Cup, former goalkeeper and part of the Olympic medal winning team, PR Sreejesh raised many questions on social media regarding the preparations and accountability of Indian hockey.
In his post, Sreejesh raised direct questions about the team's performance and said that there is a need to reconsider the thinking of seeing the World Cup as a learning experience or preparation for future tournaments.
He raised the question whether the aim of the Indian team is just to play good hockey or to create a team capable of defeating the top teams of the world.
According to Sreejesh, the experience of learning from a defeat against a top team and terming a win against an Asian team as a great performance is not enough. He said that the World Cup is not a rehearsal for any upcoming competition, but is the biggest stage in itself.
The former Indian goalkeeper also raised questions about the preparation of the women's team. He said that just before the World Cup, the head coach of the women's team was on leave.
Praising the fighting spirit of the players, Sreejesh said that the team fought with full force even in such conditions and performed better than the expectations. However, he questioned how the team could be expected to perform at its best despite the absence of the head coach in the final stages of preparation.
Sreejesh also raised the issue of accountability in Indian hockey. He asked who would raise questions regarding the discussion on the performance of the players as well as fixing responsibilities.
He also questioned whether the current shortcomings can be ignored by referring to the next tournament after the team's failure.
At the end of his post the question was who would ask the difficult questions and who would demand responsibility. He also asked if anyone actually cared.
The Indian men's hockey team won the World Cup title in 1975. Since then the team has not been able to win a medal again in the World Cup. The wait continues even in 2026, with the campaign ending early.
Now, after the exit of both the Indian men's and women's teams, Sreejesh's comments have further intensified the debate over the team's preparation, coaching and accountability.
