Explained: Why Indian hockey teams will have 18 Olympians in a squad of 16 for Tokyo Olympics 2020
Following the IOC’s decision to make Alternate Athletes available in each and every match, the Indian Hockey teams are all set to have 18 Olympians in a Covid-19-hit Olympics compared to the traditional number of 16.
In a major move today, the IOC has provided a special solution for Tokyo Olympics 2020 for team rosters in several sports. The sports in which Alternate Athletes (AP) will be able to replace Permanent athletes in each match are football, handball, hockey, rugby, and water polo.
Previously, “alternate” replacements were available but only as permanent replacements for the Olympic squads. Now each National Olympic Committee (NOC) will be able to use these athletes in each match.
This change has mostly been made because of the COVID-19 pandemic. It give more flexibility to teams and coaches to choose from a wider pool of players. Teams can now play freely knowing that there are two more players, who are good enough to replace the first 16.
What does this flexibility mean for the Indian Hockey teams?
Out of all the five team sports, India has only qualified for the Tokyo Olympics 2020 in the game of hockey. The Indian Hockey teams have a total of 16 players in the Olympics squad with 3 athletes named as “Alternate Athletes” or APs.
In previous Olympics, these athletes travelled with the Indian Hockey teams but could only make their Olympic debuts in case any player in the 16-member squad gets injured and is out of the tournament permanently.
While now, with the IOC’s new rule for this Olympics, the team size would increase to 18 for the Indian Hockey teams, which means that both the Alternate Athletes could make their debut in the Olympics. Teams will have to submit a list of 16 players before 24 hours of every match.
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This special rule takes us back to the Hockey India League (HIL) where each team had 22 or 24 players in their squad but was only allowed to name 18 players for each match.
The coach now has the flexibility to choose a squad of 16 out of 18 players, which is a big relief for every team.
However, the goalkeeper would only be able to compete in case the permanent goalkeeper is injured and out of the tournament completely. (This rule on goalkeepers is subject to change by the FIH or the IOC before the Olympics)
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So now we can expect both the Indian Hockey teams to have 18 Olympians in a single Olympics rather than the traditional 16.
In the Men’s team, we can potentially see Varun Kumar and Simranjeet Singh making their Olympic debuts while in the women’s team Namita Toppo and Reena Khokhar could make their debuts.
This rule change could prove to be a blessing for the Indian Hockey team