Hardik Singh will miss the rest of the FIH Men's Hockey World Cup due to a hamstring injury, which is a significant loss for the Indian Hockey Team. He was injured during India's match against England on January 15th and has yet to heal in time for the match against New Zealand on Sunday. Raj Kumar Pal will replace Hardik, who scored a spectacular solo goal in India's opening 2-0 victory over Spain.

Hardik was taken out of India's second game and did not play in the final group game against Wales. After an MRI scan revealed that the injury was minor, India head coach Graham Reid hinted that he might be eligible for the competition's latter rounds. “Overnight we had to make the difficult decision of replacing Hardik Singh in the Indian Team for Sunday’s match vs New Zealand and the subsequent World Cup matches”, Graham Reid, the head coach of the team said of the development.

“While the injury was not as severe as the initial incident suggested, time was not on our side and after our ongoing thorough rehabilitation process and functional and on-field assessment today, it has been decided that we will replace Hardik with Raj Kumar Pal.

While it is extremely disappointing for Hardik personally of course, given how well he played in our first two matches, we are excited at the prospects of Raj Kumar joining the group for the remaining World Cup matches,” Reid added.

Hardik is India's most prolific midfielder as the World Cup approaches. He was crucial in India's opening-match triumph over Spain, scoring a wonderful goal while balancing both attacking and defending. Raj Kumar Pal, Hardik's replacement, is a comparable replacement. The youth can move up and down the pitch like Hardik, but he lacks international experience, having played only 25 matches thus far.

India will need to overcome New Zealand in the crossover match to proceed to the quarterfinals after finishing second in Pool D. India needed to beat Wales by eight goals to win Pool D and move to the quarterfinals, but the home team only managed a 4-2 victory on Thursday.