New Delhi, Feb 23: Promising India striker Yuvraj Walmiki was today ruled out of the remainder of the men's hockey Olympic Qualification tournament due to a hamstring injury.
Walmiki sustained the injury during India's third round-robin match against France on Tuesday and did not play in the hard-fought 3-2 win over Canada last night.
It is suspected that Walmiki has aggravated a previous injury and might take at least 21 days to get back to match fitness.
“He (Walmiki) underwent an MRI scan yesterday and reports suggest that he is suffering from a hamstring tear, which will probably take 7 to 10 days to repair,” India coach Micheal Nobbs told reporters at the Major Dhyan Chand National Stadium ahead of tomorrow's final round-robin match against Poland.
“We fear he might have aggravated a previous injury. In that scenario, he will take at least 21 days to recover. He is a very talented player and crucial to our scheme of things. So, we will carefully look into his rehabilitation,” he said.
Nobbs conceded his side will miss Walmiki but said he has enough resources in the squad to make up for his loss.
“As per the rules of the tournament, we can't call for a replacement. But we have 17 more players in the squad. We may use (defender) Rupinder Pal Singh in the forwardline tomorrow because we used him successfully in this position in Australia,” Nobbs said.
Nobbs hinted that he will continue to experiment with the side and might play both the goalkeepers—captain Bharat Chetri and P R Srejeesh—alternatively tomorrow.
