Hockey World Cup 2018: India will miss Sardar Singh's experience in mega event, says former captain Dilip Tirkey
Firstpost“In cricket, if your main batsman gets out for a duck, will you drop him? Bhubaneshwar: Former India captain Dilip Tirkey feels retired stalwart Sardar Singh should have been part of country’s World Cup squad, and the presence of the experienced 32-year-old would have lent better balance to the team going into the 16-team event that starts here on 28 November. Everybody erred in that game; it was a collective failure,” Tirkey, who represented India in three World Cups from 1998 to 2006, told Firstpost at the ongoing Ekamra Sports Literary Festival here. There should be a healthy balance between seniors and juniors in the squad.” Sardar, who broke into the national team in 2006 and made his mark as a lightening fast centre-forward, was pushed to the midfield in the later years of his career where his vision and positional play made him a lynchpin of much of India’s attacking and defensive moves. A veteran of 412 international matches, Tirkey said penalty corner conversion and conceding late goals were areas of improvement for the home team going into the World Cup.