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Striker Lalit Upadhyay, who was part of the 18-member Indian lineup for the Hero Hockey World League Finals in Raipur, has been ruled out of action due to an injury. The 21-year-old suffered a hairline fracture during the last phase of the team’s training camp in Bengaluru. He will be replaced by Mohammad Amir Khan.
Chief Coach and High-Performance Director Roelant Oltmans had this to say on the development: “We had a good preparatory camp in Bangalore. Everything went off smoothly and fine. The only blemish was the injury to Lalit. He sustained a hairline fracture in the last week of our camp in Bangalore and is out of the tournament. Mohd Amir Khan will replace him in the squad”, according to Times of India.
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India will also be missing another of their dependable strikers as Nikkin Thimmaiah will not feature in the team due to a shoulder injury he sustained in the recently concluded tour of New Zealand. Despite the absence of two key players, Oltmans has faith in the side, saying,”We will also be missing Nikkin. He sustained a shoulder injury during the New Zealand tour and is likely to be operated soon. He will be out for at least six weeks. But we are making progress day by day and we have got a mix of young and experienced players in the side to take on top teams like Australia, Germany and The Netherlands.”
The Blue Sticks will be put through the crucible ahead of the Hockey World League Finals, as they take on number one ranked Australia in a three-test series, starting tomorrow. Oltmans feels that this would be the perfect litmus test for the team, saying, “Australia is the no. 1 team in the world. They are the fittest and the most attacking team in the world and to play three Tests against them will definitely test our preparation and give us an idea where we lack.”
Oltmans is of the opinion that the recent successful tour of New Zealand, which India won 2-1, was crucial in helping him assess the strengths and areas of improvement of the team, saying, “The New Zealand tour was of immense value to us. We were able to identify the new areas where we need to focus on besides our already existing weak links like the defence. We have worked a lot on our creative moves among others.”
Oltmans is a decorated coach who mentored the Dutch national team to two World Cups and an Olympic gold.
