The illustrious Indian Men’s Hockey midfielder, Hardik Singh, has once again demonstrated the fruits of relentless diligence, by earning the highly coveted Player of the Year award at the 5th Hockey India Annual Awards 2022.

Speaking on the popular podcast ‘Hockey Te Charcha’, initiated by Hockey India, the Olympic bronze medalist candidly discussed his journey through highs and lows, including his forced withdrawal from the 2023 FIH Odisha Hockey Men’s World Cup in Bhubaneswar-Rourkela due to an unfortunate injury. Despite this setback, Singh affirmed his unwavering dedication to the sport.

“I had never anticipated winning this award, but I am certain that my persistent hard work over the past few years has yielded results,” expressed Singh.

The 24-year-old athlete feels deeply inspired by the accolade, a token of recognition from his countrymen for his impressive performance on the field.

In March 2023, Singh was honoured with the prestigious Hockey India Balbir Singh Sr. Award for Player of the Year 2022 at the 5th Hockey India Annual Awards ceremony in New Delhi.

Singh confessed that his aspiration to win the award was kindled back in 2019 when he witnessed Manpreet Singh, the skipper who led India to a bronze medal finish at the Tokyo Olympics, receive the award. From that point forward, he committed himself to daily improvements, culminating in his significant roles in the Tokyo 2020 Olympics and the 2023 Hockey World Cup.

According to Singh, such accolades serve as potent motivation for players, encouraging them to constantly strive for better performance.

He expressed gratitude towards Hockey India and the award’s jury and emphasized the positive impact of awards in fostering a competitive spirit among both senior and junior players.

Receiving the award in the presence of Hockey legends like Dhanraj Pillay, Gurbux Singh, and Harcharan Singh added a special meaning to his accomplishment, pushing him further to continue developing as a player.

Discussing his personal evolution, Singh mentioned his commitment to continuous improvement and the importance of stepping out of his comfort zone, a lesson learned from a period of stagnation in 2017-18.

The Punjab-born player reflected on the disappointment of being side-lined due to an injury during the 2023 Hockey World Cup. Despite the setback, he maintained a positive attitude and cheered for his team, emphasizing the collective spirit of the sport.

Singh also shared his excitement to work under the new Indian Men’s Hockey Team Chief Coach Craig Fulton at the ongoing National Coaching Camp at the Sports Authority of India (SAI), Bengaluru. He praised Fulton’s successful track record with the Irish and Belgian teams and his tactical coaching style, expressing optimism for the team’s future under his guidance.

Source: Khalsa Vox

If everything goes well, then the end of the Bangladesh innings is supposed to be seen by 1,200 spectators at the Sher Bangla National Stadium. But Bangladesh was all out long before that. New Zealand's innings started then.

Even if the eyes are on the match, the Facebook page of the Bangladesh Cricket Board, which was on everyone's mind, can't be said anymore. A lot of speculation is about to end then. Bangladesh's World Cup team was supposed to be announced! But what BCB did then can be called 'anti-climax'. The announcement came on that Facebook page, not at 5.45 as previously announced, the team will be announced after the ongoing Bangladesh- New Zealand match. The ongoing speculation was prolonged a little more.

All the speculation started in the previous evening. According to media reports, Captain Shakib Al Hasan is uncomfortable with the team. If necessary, he wanted to give up the captaincy of the World Cup. After that, the meeting between Coach Chandika Hathurusinghe and captain Shakib at the residence of board president Nazmul Hasan Papon added fuel to the fire.

After that discussion, now the news is that Bangladesh is going to the World Cup without Tamim Iqbal. A BCB source confirmed this to Barta24. Who will join the team instead will be known after the announcement of the team.

Meanwhile, before Tamim's absence from the team was officially announced, another incident happened in the team. Team manager Nafees Iqbal also left the team, just as the team was playing a match against New Zealand.

Ish Sodhi undoubtedly, the Bangladesh-New Zealand second ODI is the most talked about name. He scored 35 valuable runs with the bat. The big highlight of the New Zealand innings was Hasan Mahmood's Mankaded and Liton Das's exemplification of the 'Spirit of Cricket' bringing him back to the crease.

Sodhi didn't stop there. He brought himself to the center of discussion with the ball. The career-best bowler crushed Bangladesh's batting lineup almost single-handedly. Bangladesh lost by 86 runs in the second ODI of the three-match series against New Zealand at the home of cricket in Mirpur. As the first match was abandoned, the third and final ODI next Tuesday (September 26) is now a battle for Bangladesh to save the series.

Kiwi captain Lockie Ferguson won the toss and elected to bat on Saturday (September 23). New Zealand was in some danger after finding 3 wickets in 36 runs. However, Henry Nicholls (49) and Tom Blundell (68) handled the initial shock by batting responsibly for the fourth wicket. However, the tourists were not completely safe. When Cole McConchie, the last recognized batsman in the XI, returned for 187 runs, New Zealand had not capitalized on the fight.

However, at the end, due to the tenacity of the tail ender batters, New Zealand got a fighting capital of 254 runs. Ish Sodhi led the tail-enders' defense with the bat. He played an important innings of 35 runs.

But Sodhi's innings could have ended in 17 individual runs, if Bangladesh captain Liton Das had not become the embodiment of 'Spirit of Cricket'!

His main job of spreading light with the bat is bowling or why stay behind! Ten years later, Sodhi bowled a career-best ODI against the country that started his journey in international cricket. After bowling 10 overs, he took 6 wickets for 39 runs.

On the day of Sodhi's bowling excellence, Bangladesh's batting has once again lost its bones. Apart from the two seniors Tamim Iqbal (44) and Mahmudullah (49) who returned to the team after a long time, only Nasum Ahmed (21) of the tail row has reached the quota of 20. Soumya Sarkar returned to the team after two and a half years before opening the run book.

Bangladesh were all out for 168 runs in just 41.1 overs due to batting failure. Bangladesh must win the last match to save the series.

Bangladesh Cricket Board has announced the squad for the ODI series against New Zealand. Skipper Shakib Al Hasan, Mushfiqur Rahim, Mehdi Hasan Miraj, Taskin Ahmed, Hasan Mahmood and Shariful Islam have been rested as expected. In other words, regular XI cricketers will be rested in this series before the World Cup. In-form Nazmul Hossain Shanto is not in this series due to injury. Liton Das is leading the team.

Mahmudullah Riyad returned to the team after more than six months. Regular opener Tamim Iqbal returned to the team after recovering from injury. Soumya Sarkar got a place in the ODI squad after three and a half years. Also, two wicketkeeper-batters Nurul Hasan Sohan and Zakir Hasan have returned to the ODI team. Pacer Syed Khaled Ahmed, who is in the preliminary squad of the World Cup, has received a call. Leg spinner Rishad Hossain has come to the ODI team for the first time.

 Afif Hossain Dhruba, Shamim Patwari and Mohammad Naeem Sheikh have been dropped from the Asia Cup squad. It is more likely that they will not be in the World Cup squad.

There is a rumor in the cricket village that Soumya Sarkar and Sheikh Mahedi Hasan can board the plane for the World Cup. Along with this, Tanjid Tamim, who entered international cricket with the Asia Cup, is also likely to be in the fifteen men squad of the World Cup.

 Bangladesh has announced the squad for the first two ODIs of the series against New Zealand. Tamim Iqbal has returned to the team after a long break. Apart from this, Mahmudullah and Soumya Sarkar also got a chance in the first two ODI teams.

Regular captain Shakib Al Hasan has been rested in this home series before the World Cup. ODI vice-captain Liton Das will lead the side against the Kiwis in his place.

 Apart from Shakib Al Hasan, Mushfiqur Rahim, Mehdi Hasan Miraj, Taskin Ahmed, Hasan Mahmood and Shariful Islam are not in the New Zealand series squad. The selectors have decided to rest all of them in this series.

As many of the regular faces of the ODI team are resting, the fortunes of several people who were left out of the team have returned. This list includes experienced Mahmudullah Riyad, Soumya Sarkar, Nurul Hasan Sohan, Zakir Hasan, Rishad Hossain and Khaled Ahmed.

Bangladesh team for the first two ODIs

Liton Das (Captain), Tamim Iqbal, Soumya Sarkar, Enamul Haque, Tawhid Hriday, Mahmudullah, Nurul Hasan, Mehdi Hasan, Nasum Ahmed, Mostafizur Rahman, Tanzim Hasan, Tanjid Hasan, Zakir Hasan, Rishad Hossain, Khaled Ahmed.