India coach Graham Reid on the mood in the team, his own contract and why a redesigned HIL could be a big help.
The last four days have been quite mentally strenuous for the Indian hockey team. The pressure they were under, the painful exit from the World Cup at home, the difficult questions asked of them – it has been tough to take for the Harmanpreet Singh-led outfit.
But the 8-0 hammering of Japan has helped soothe things a bit. The comprehensive victory without conceding a goal against the Asian Games gold medallists on Thursday night upped the confidence, bringing a smile back on the faces of the team that lost to New Zealand in the crossovers on Sunday.
“The first 24 hours after the defeat to New Zealand was tough to get over. It’s been a tough three days. There was a mixture of lots of feelings – disappointment and frustration that we’ve let people down and all those sorts of things. But what I was proud of is that we tried to keep the focus on these next two games. It’s only half the job done at the moment,” said India chief coach Graham Reid.
