Change is always good, says WC-winning hockey captain Ajit Pal Singh on Graham Reid's resignation

Reid on Monday resigned from his position following India's early ouster from the showpiece, jointly hosted by Rourkela and Bhubaneswar.The 58-year-old Australian submitted his resignation to Hockey India president Dilip Tirkey, a day after the conclusion of the World Cup in Bhubaneswar, where Germany beat Belgium in a penalty shoot-out to emerge as champions.

Read AlsoGraham Reid steps down as Indian men's hockey team chief coach following World Cup debacle

The Indian men's hockey team chief coach Graham Reid on Monday quit from his post following the team's dismal outing at the just-concluded World Cup in Bhubaneswar.

"Graham Reid's resignation is his personal decision but at the end of the day somebody has to take the blame for this awful show," Ajit Pal told PTI."Being Olympic bronze medallist, there was high expectations from India in this World Cup but we were just below-par in all departments. We finished a lowly ninth and I don't think we could have fell any further. It is the worst performance from the team."Change is always for good and I feel Reid's resignation will be good for the Indian team. I feel we now want a person with new ideas, who can gel the team together once again," added the captain of India's only World Cup-winning side.India, led by Harmanpreet Singh, eventually finished a disappointing joint ninth along with Argentina after defeating Japan 8-0 and South Africa 5-2 in classification matches.Reid, who was appointed India coach in April 2019, led the team to a historic bronze medal finish at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021.Reid's term was till next year's Paris Olympics.Besides Reid, the team's analytical coach Greg Clark and scientific advisor Mitchell David Pemberton also tendered their resignations