'Execution, key word for success'

Execution should be the key to success, if our team wants to finish on the podium, is what the former Indian hockey coach Vasudevan Baskaran had to say for a good outing at the Tokyo Olympics next year.

The Chennai-based Southern Railways former employee, Baskaran was the skipper of the side which last won gold medal in Olympics at the 1980 Moscow Games.

With eight gold medals, Indian men's hockey team has been the most successful side in Olympic history but since the 1980 Moscow Games, the country has not had a podium finish.

The women's team, on the other hand, has qualified for the Olympics only thrice, 1980 Moscow, 2016 Rio de Janeiro and 2020 Tokyo. The team had finished fourth and sixth in 1980 and 2016 respectively.

"I feel for both men and women's team to execute to perfection. If they do, they can surely finish on the podium," wrote Baskaran in a column for Hockey India (HI).

The 69-year-old said for a podium finish, ' every single player needs to give his minimum 80 per cent if not 100.'

"Every team at the Olympics come to win and they will do everything they can to stop you from giving your 100 per cent. Podium finishes cannot happen with just 4-5 players giving their 80 per cent and the rest giving their 60 per cent.

"Every single player needs to be consistent and for the Indian men's team Chief coach Graham Reid has pointed this out several times."

The Indian team will gear up for the Olympics with away matches in Hockey Pro League against Argentina (April 10 and 11), Great Britain (May 8 and 9), Spain (May 12 and 13) and Germany (May 18 and 19) before finally playing a home tie against New Zealand (May 29 and 30).