Hockey India surprised by Narinder Batra's strong missive, to meet IOA chief this week

Indian Olympic Association president this week even as a former great expressed surprise at his "interference". IOA chief Batra, who also heads the International Hockey Federation (FIH), termed the Indian men's hockey team's performance in recent tournaments as "unacceptable," and asked Hockey India to explain the reasons behind it in a message circulated on Tuesday.

Read AlsoMediocre show by men's team irks Narinder Batra, Hockey India

The Indian hockey team, which won the bronze medal at the Tokyo Olympics last year, looks a pale shadow of the gritty team which fought its way to the podium. Post the glory senior players like Rupinder Pal Singh and Birendra Lakra decided to hang up their boots, making way for more juniors.

In the strongly-worded communication to HI president Gyanendro Ningombam, secretary general Rajinder Singh and CEO Elena Norman, Batra said he has serious concerns about the team's performance after the historic bronze at the Tokyo Olympics. "The letter from Mr Batra caught Hockey India by surprise. After the Olympics, the team played first in the Asian Champions Trophy, where only eight players from the Olympic bronze medal-winning team were a part of the squad," a source in the know of developments told PTI. "The team management tried out reserve players from the core group in the ACT as they had not played any international hockey for the last 2 years. The team just had a bad match against Japan in the semifinal and failed to defend the title. "In the second match of the Pro League against France, India dominated but some lapse in concentration cost them." In his communication, Batra also pointed fingers towards the team management without specifying anything. Sources said he was not happy with