Soundly thrashed by Australia in their last match, India will look to sort out their defensive woes when they take on Malaysia in their quarter-final match of the Hockey World League Semifinals in Antwerp, Belgium, on Wednesday.
Apart from Dilpreet (35', 45') and Vivek (12', 28'), Rupinder (7') and Harmanpreet Singh (41') also scored in India's win.
India put up a valiant fight before defending champions Australia pipped them 3-2 in an absorbing encounter in the six-nation Champions Trophy hockey tournament, in Breda, the Netherlands, on Wednesday.
Olympic medal-winning defender Amit Rohidas will continue to lead the Indian men's hockey team in the crucial last leg of the 2021-22 edition of the FIH Pro League
The hosts will face Australia in the semi-final on Friday.
World No.1 Australia scored all their goals from penalty corners through Jeremy Hayward (4th minute), Blake Govers (19th) and skipper Aran Zalewski (37th) at the Kalinga Stadium.
The Tokyo Games are scheduled to be held from July 23 to August 8.
Veteran striker Sunil's participation in the mega event was always in doubt ever since he picked up a knee injury during the national camp in the lead up to the Asian Champions Trophy held in Muscat last month.
India scored a 3-0 victory over Poland to notch their second consecutive victory in the Hockey World League semi-finals, in Antwerp, on Tuesday.
India captain Sardar Singh asserted that they have a lot to play for in the ongoing Hockey World League Semifinals.
'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.'
Mumtaz edged Belgium's Charlotte Englebert for the Player of the Year award by a margin of just three points after votes cast by experts (40%), teams (20%), fans (20%) and media (20%) were tallied finishing with a total of 32.9 points.
India put up a gallant fight before going down 2-3 to the Netherlands in their opening match of the Hero FIH Junior hockey World Cup, in Delhi, on Friday.
India cricket captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni's Ranchi Rhinos' have retained most of the players.
The Asian Games normally serves as the Olympic qualifiers but there was some confusion after the Hangzhou Asian Games were postponed from last year to this year due to the COVID-19 situation in China.
The Indian men's hockey team's FIH Pro League title hopes went up in smoke after suffering a hard-fought 1-2 defeat against the Netherlands
The other teams in India's pool are Spain, New Zealand and hosts Japan. The Pool B is made up of Belgium, Netherlands, Germany, Great Britain, Canada and South Africa in the groupings announced by world governing body FIH on Saturday.
Manpreet (30th minute, 44th) was the star for sixth- ranked India, while Varun Kumar (17th) and Harjeet Singh (49th) also sounded the board.
India's captain Manpreet Singh and star custodian P R Sreejesh said the team needs to put aside the disappointment of losing to Belgium in the semi-finals and refocus for the bronze medal play-off on Thursday.
The 27-year-old midfielder is first from the country to win the accolade since the awards were introduced in 1999.
An inspired Pakistan put their disappointing showing in the pool matches behind to stun World Cup and Olympics silver medallists the Netherlands 4-2 and reach the semi-finals of the Hero Champions Trophy hockey tournament, in Bhubaneswar, on Thursday.
The HI president also said that a committee has been formed to decide on the fate of the coach and it will take a decision on Friday. He said he has no ego problem and if the committee feels the coach should continue, he would himself go to The Netherlands to bring him back.
Olympic bronze medallist Germany defeated Malaysia 5-3 in a keenly-contested match
Overwhelmed by emotion after leading India to its first Olympics hockey medal in 41 years, skipper Manpreet Singh dedicated the historic triumph to the country's doctors and health-care workers who have worked tirelessly to save lives during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Indian men's hockey team had their date with history as they clinched a maiden appearance in the final of the prestigious 36th Hero Champions Trophy Hockey tournament against formidable Australia after hosts Great Britain held Belgium to 3-3 draw in a final round robin match.
A summary of the country's athletes' showing at the Tokyo Olympics on Sunday, August 1.
France and Germany will clash in the final of the Junior Men's Hockey World Cup. The French made history when they beat Malaysia via the penalty shoot-out in the first semi-final to make their maiden appearance in the final while the defending champions Germans got the better of the Netherlands 5-3.
'We have chosen an experienced side for the Commonwealth Games and the players believe they have a good shot at a medal'
With exactly a year to go for the deferred Tokyo Olympics, India hockey captains Manpreet Singh and Rani Rampal are confident of a good showing at the Games.
India crashed to their second defeat in the men's hockey World Cup by conceding a late goal yet again to go down 1-2 against England at the Kyocera Stadium in The Hague on Monday.
India, who are also without three key players in Lalremsiami, Salima Tete and Sharmila Devi from the historic fourth-place finish in the Tokyo Olympics, had won the first match 2-1 on Friday. That win was the first against the Netherlands in over a decade.
A well-oiled Indian unit had raised the hopes of making the semi-finals for the first time since 1975 but the Dutch side broke a million hearts by coming from behind to knock out the hosts 2-1 in the last-eight clash.
India eked out a 4-2 win via penalty over Great Britain in the FIH Hockey Pro League on Saturday.
'If we want to ensure this isn't a once-in-four-decade phenomenon, then we have to produce 1,800 players all the time, create infrastructure, so that we are constantly challenging at the top of the ladder.'
The Indian men's hockey team produced a lion hearted performance before going down 1-4 to leaders the Netherlands in the penalty shoot-out
Australia and France made the quarter-finals of the Hero FIH Junior Men's World Cup after registering contrasting victories in their respective Pool B matches today at the Major Dhyan Chand National Stadium in New Delhi on Sunday.
India swept the International Hockey Federation's annual awards on Wednesday, claiming all the top honours, based on a voting system which was lambasted as a "failure" by men's Olympic champions Belgium, prompting the FIH to say that it would try to figure why some associations did not cast their ballot.
Creating a nationwide buzz, India's music icon A R Rahman on Thursday shared the teaser video which features Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan and him doing the 'Hockey Hook Step'.
Pakistan avenged their Asian Games final loss when they beat India 4-3 in Bhubaneswar on Saturday to enter the Champions Trophy hockey final.
