“We found out through the media”: four India seniors, one farewell nobody told them about
Four of India’s most decorated hockey players are reportedly about to play their last tournament for the country. And according to the players themselves, nobody at Hockey India told them first.
PTI has reported, citing Hockey India sources, that Mandeep Singh, Jarmanpreet Singh, Amit Rohidas and Nilakanta Sharma will make their final India appearances at the Asian Champions Trophy, which runs from 27 October to 5 November in Jalandhar and Mohali. The reasoning, per those sources, is transition: fresh legs for the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics, now that the Asian Games gold has already secured India’s place there.
What the sources say
A Hockey India source told PTI the call had been discussed among the selectors for some time. “Yes, it has been in discussion for some time among the selectors because we need to bring in and groom young players for the LA Olympics. These four players have served the country for a long time, but now it’s time for fresh legs. We are thankful for their services,” the source said, on condition of anonymity.
Selection committee chairman RP Singh gave the Times of India a version of the same story without the names. He declined to identify the players, said at least half a dozen could play their final matches at the ACT, and said the players had been informed and deserved an honourable exit on home soil in Punjab. He also said a squad mixing the remaining seniors with fresh faces will travel to New Zealand in November, so head coach Craig Fulton can test young talent overseas.
That’s the official-ish line. The players’ line is very different.
What the players say
The four players told PTI they were caught off guard, and that they’d learned of the development through the media while they were in the middle of Asian Games gold celebrations and felicitation ceremonies.
“We found out through the media ourselves; they should have at least informed us before making such a major decision. After winning a gold medal for the country, we deserve at least that much respect,” one player told PTI.
Another said the calls haven’t stopped since the reports surfaced. “I have been receiving a barrage of calls asking if I had decided to retire. I was shocked because I had never said any such thing; we have been talking about preparing hard for the Los Angeles Olympics. So, how did this happen suddenly? I have reached at this stage after a lot of hard work and was performing well. I was optimistic about the future after the Asian Games gold,” the player said.
One of them, per PTI, was planning to retire before LA 2028 anyway, but wanted it done properly. “Selection is not in our hands, we can only strive to perform well, but retiring with dignity is the right of every player who has won medals for the country,” he said.
Worth being precise about the disagreement here: RP Singh says the players have been informed. The players say they found out from journalists. Both can’t be the whole story.
What India would be saying goodbye to
If the reports hold, the numbers are enormous. Per PTI’s reporting of FIH statistics, Mandeep, 31, has played 301 matches for India and scored 128 goals, with 11 hat-tricks. He’s an Arjuna awardee with two Olympic bronze medals. Jarmanpreet, 30, has 171 caps. Rohidas, 33, has 257 caps and 38 goals, and anyone who’s watched India defend a penalty corner knows what he does as first rusher. All four were part of the Olympic bronze squads of the last two Games, and all four are in India’s ACT squad.
Transitions are normal. Every great team does this, and doing it two years out from an Olympics, at a home tournament, is defensible planning. But the how matters. Players with 300 caps finding out from a news alert, days after winning gold, is the part of this story that will be remembered if Hockey India doesn’t clean it up fast.
All four are expected to be on the pitch in Jalandhar on 27 October, when India open their title defence. If it really is the farewell tour, Punjab is about as fitting a stage as Indian hockey can offer. It just deserved a better announcement than this.
