It was necessary to ‘reset’ myself to make a comeback: Hardik Singh

Tokyo Olympic bronze-medallist midfielder Hardik Singh says it was necessary for him to reinvent himself before making a comeback after putting his career on the backburner. Vice-captain Hardik, who made a comeback after being dropped from the Indian hockey team due to poor form, received the Balbir Singh Sr. Player of the Year award at the fifth Hockey India Annual Awards in March. Hardik said in a release issued by Hockey India, ‘At this time I am happy that the performance is improving day by day and doing better every season. I am in 2017. At 18, he went out of his comfort zone, started playing poorly and was dropped from the team. I had to reset myself to come back.

“A player has to work hard everyday and give his 100 per cent in every practice session. One has to get out of comfort and challenge oneself.” He said, “The World Cup was a big opportunity for me to prove myself. I was also playing well but then got injured. I was shocked because I was working hard for the tournament. After the Olympics, my focus was only on the World Cup. I cheered the team from outside and tried to stay positive.