‘Are we capable of beating Australia? 100% we are, but it’s going to be super tough’: Viren Rasquinha looks ahead to India’s hockey medal chances at CWG 2022 | Commonwealth Games 2022 News – Times of India

It’s no secret that after the success of the Tokyo Olympics, where both the Indian men’s and women’s teams made history (the men won a bronze ending a 41-year wait, while the women finished fourth, narrowly missing a medal), expectations from Indian hockey players have gone through the roof.
The next assignment for both teams are the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham and both units will have a point or two to prove. In the last edition in 2018 India didn’t win a medal in hockey. Neither team could make the gold medal match and then both lost the bronze medal match to English teams (the men lost to England 2-1, the women lost to England 6-0).
Ahead of CWG 2022, former India hockey captain Viren Rasquinha was a guest on Times of India’s sports podcast Sportscast and talked about various things, including medal chances of both the men’s and women’s teams this time.

The following are excerpts from the Sportscast episode with Viren Rasquinha:
On the goal-post shifting after the postponement of the Asian Games…
‘I think we are living in a world and at a time where uncertainty is something that we all have to live with and one of the job descriptions of being an international sports person is to be able to adapt. When you are representing the country you have to be ready at all times and for me there are never any excuses that we are not ready. Every player playing at this level has to be able to adapt quickly and be ready to represent the country – it’s the biggest honour, it’s what we live for and train so hard for. I don’t think it’s going to be a big adjustment. Obviously we were supposed to go with the second team for the CWG and the main team for the Asian Games, which is an Olympic qualifier, but now that things have changed we will be sending a full team to the CWG and I think both the boys and the ladies team will be extremely ready and raring to go,’ Viren said on TOI Sportscast.
On how big a preparatory campaign CWG 2022 will be for the men’s team looking ahead to the World Cup in 2023 in India…
‘I think the CWG, when you specifically talk about hockey, is an extremely important tournament. We have Australia, England, New Zealand, Pakistan, Malaysia, South Africa, Canada – all teams in the top 12 nations in the world, so there’s a lot of competition. If you remember the last CWG in 2018, both in men’s and women’s we finished fourth, so no medal, so definite scope for improvement (this time). I think in both the men’s and women’s events we must target a minimum of reaching the final, but I have never been one to just assume that we will play the final. You have to be humble and not complacent and take it one match at a time and not underestimate any team, because at this level you can underestimate teams only at your own peril. There’s not going to be any easy matches. Every single match is going to be hard fought. But if you look at talent, calibre, capability and overall temperament, both the men and women have a chance. For me the men’s team should be looking at minimum the final and really challenging Australia, if Australia makes it as well. For me this is the most open hockey tournament for the women I have seen at the CWG ever. I would say Australia, England, New Zealand, and India are all at the same level. Maybe Australia are a notch ahead, but there is not too much difference between these four teams in the women’s field,’ Viren said on TOI Sportscast.

On the women’s team itching to turn their fortunes around after a well below-par performance at the World up where they finished joint 9th…
‘After the Tokyo Olympics where the women’s team had a brilliant tournament, just missed out on a medal, came fourth – hopes and expectations have been raised among all hockey fans for the women’s hockey team. And I am sure they themselves will be most disappointed with a 9th place finish at the World Cup. If you look purely at the end result it is a massive disappointment. But for me, one of the reasons I continue to be optimistic about the women’s hockey team is the kind of hockey they play.

Image credit: Hockey India
If you look at , except goals scored at all the other stats – from circle penetrations to PCs to tries at goal to ball possession to overall how much the Indian team has gelled into a much more attacking unit. The best teams in the world today are defending against the Indian women’s hockey team and it’s sort of a role reversal from what was happening 5-10 years back itself, so I think we are playing excellent hockey. I feel with maturity and with better preparation, more sharpness – both in PCs and field goal conversions – if we start scoring more goals and become sharper in the D area – you will see us winning many more matches. At the WC almost every single match was very closely fought, so the gap is very miniscule now between the Indian women’s hockey team and the other teams in the world. Take away Holland and I am honestly saying that we can match up with any team in world hockey. I would not have been able to say that confidently 5 years ago. The coaches over the last 5 years have done a fabulous job and we should be calm and patient and give them support at this point in time,’ Viren said on TOI Sportscast.
On the possibility of India breaking Australia’s stranglehold on the CWG men’s hockey gold medal…
‘There’s a reason why Australia has a stranglehold on the gold medal. They have got some of the best players in the world, they are the best as a team. They are extremely consistent, they generally always play well at major tournaments. India has traditionally always struggled against Australia. Even at the Tokyo Olympics we lost 7-1, so it has never been comfortable for the Indian hockey team to play against Australia. Having said that, like I said before – if you look at talent, capability, calibre, the overall team work and the strength and depth of this (Indian) team – are we capable of beating Australia? 100% we are capable, is it going to be tough? Yes, for sure it’s going to be super tough. We must be humble, not get complacent and take it one match at a time. Last time at the CWG, we lost to NZ in the semi-finals, so we cannot take any team lightly and we cannot just assume that we will reach the final and be up against Australia. There’s great experience in this team – Sreejesh, Manpret, Akashdeep are going to be playing their third CWG, seven players are going to be playing their second CWG so this is the most experienced Indian men’s hockey team that we are sending to the CWG and experience counts for a lot. There are also good young players who have come in of late and are establishing themselves. Vivek Sagar Prasad, Hardik, Jugraj is (also) very exciting in the defence and drag-flickers, Nilakanta has also been very impressive, so a good mix of experience and youth in the Indian men’s hockey team,’ Viren said on TOI Sportscast.