Indian team can win medal in next year’s World Cup: Bhaskaran

Former India captain and coach Vasudevan Bhaskan feels India should forget its poor performance in the Commonwealth Games final and draw inspiration from its campaign at the Tokyo Olympics. Bhaskaran, who was the captain of the Moscow Olympic gold medal winning Indian team, said, “I believe that the Indian team can win a medal in this World Cup. He should take inspiration from his performance in the Tokyo Olympics, forgetting the loss in the Commonwealth Games final at the hands of Australia.

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“India have a good coach and support staff in Graham Reid. I think they can win a medal in the World Cup in Odisha.” Bhaskaran said India should start on a positive note against Spain in the World Cup. The World Cup will be played from January 13 to 29 in Bhubaneswar and Rourkela. “If we win the first match against Spain, no one can stop us from reaching the medal bout,” Bhaskaran said.

Eight-time Olympic champions, the Indian team has won bronze medals in World Cups in 1973 and gold in 1975. Bhaskaran was also part of the 1973 World Cup squad which described the victory over Pakistan as the most memorable victory in that tournament. He said, “Emotions were in full swing. The memories of the 1971 war between India and Pakistan were fresh. Harcharan Singh and Harmik Singh were from Pathankot and had seen the war very closely. That’s why they were desperate to win.