Hockey World Cup: India's game of 'numbers' in race to quarters, but Wales have nothing to lose

The word 'easy' had a lot of context. The draw against England was thrilling, but both teams had just a point to show for it. No goals. Hardik Singh's injury made India more jittery about a top-place finish in Pool D for a direct spot in the last-eight. And England had their noses slightly in front with a better goal difference, thanks to their 5-0 hammering of Wales.Spain are not out yet either. They lost 0-2 to India but came back to wallop Wales 5-1 and covered some of the lost ground in the race to the quarterfinals.

Hockey World Cup: India seek big win vs Wales to qualify directly for quarter-finals

Thankfully for the home team, Hardik's injury hasn't turned out to be a hamstring tear that the team management feared, and he walked around the training ground, but didn't train after India shifted base from Rourkela to Bhubaneswar.Hardik's recovery was good news, but his availability for the match against Wales has 'ruled out' written all over it. The Indian team hasn't asked for a replacement yet, but is also not showing their cards just yet."The prognosis did not look good for Hardik at that time (after the match against England). The MRI was much better than what we had hoped and gives us a bit of hope for him to be playing again in this tournament," said coach Graham Reid on Wednesday ahead of India's practice.

Hockey World Cup: Team is focused and confident of topping the pool, says Manpreet Singh ahead of Wales clash

The team's training session on Wednesday had a bit more chirpiness and energy about it, led by usual suspects, former captains and serial pranksters Manpreet Singh and PR Sreejesh.An animated slow clap from Srjeesh after he was defeated in a one-on-one shootout had the team in splits. And the tone of