Caught in 'experimentation' trap, is Indian hockey losing the chance to rebuild its legacy after Tokyo Olympics high?

Indian hockey, the script has been differently written since the 1980 Moscow Games. India's Olympic hockey legacy in an unmatched feat spread across eight gold medals. But it's also one that had gathered dust over decades and is littered with rare triumphs, occasional near misses, frustrating mediocrity and the nadir of wooden spoons -- until the Tokyo Olympics arrived. The team in Tokyo, like many of its predecessors since 1980, had to blow that dust off history pages in search of inspiration. It happened, and the effort resulted in a podium finish -- a bronze medal after a 41-year wait. With that medal came an opportunity -- an opportunity to become ruthless on the field, an opportunity to woo back the fans who were once again talking about hockey, an opportunity to manure the sport and help it grow like in the distant past, an opportunity to revive the legacy. But what has followed is over-experimentation and lack of transparency.

(India squad with Odisha CM Naveen Patnaik at the logo unveiling ceremony in build-up to the 2023 World Cup - HI Photo)OVER-EXPERIMENTATIONThe Tokyo Olympics squad looked settled to create ripples at the Asian Games and the coming 2023 World Cup in Odisha. Those are the two events when India wants its hockey to hit peak form. That, of course, requires resting your first-team players and blooding exciting youngsters to help the core group evolve and grow with more options at hand. But can that be done to the length where you risk losing that competitive edge? India topping the FIH Pro League charts currently can be used as an argument against that question. But does that allow to put reputation in Asia at stake, while fully knowing that the European nations treat the Pro League as