PR Sreejesh minces no words after India's hockey World Cup curse deepens; legendary goalkeeper reacts ‘stop hiding…’

Legendary goalkeeper PR Sreejesh minced no words at the team managements after both the Indian men and women teams crashed out of the semifinal race in the second round of the FIH Hockey World Cup 2026. While the Indian women's team took an exit route after a draw against Australia the previous day, their men's team exited on Monday following a humiliating 3-5 loss to Argentina.

The 38-year-old Sreejesh, who helped India win two Olympic bronze medals in 2021 and 2024, took to X to vent his frustration and demanded accountability for the Indian teams poor display in Belgium and the Netherlands. The Indian teams will now play in classification matches.

“Don’t worry… the World Cup doesn’t matter,” started Sreejesh in his X post. “The Asian Games are coming. Win a medal there, and then we can start dreaming about LA 2028. Apparently, that’s enough to cover everything that went wrong at the World Cup,” he added with sarcastic tone.

“Women’s chief coach on holiday just before the World Cup — and the girls still fought their hearts out and exceeded expectations. Credit to the players. But where is the accountability? Do we really expect a team to perform at its best when the chief coach is away during the final phase of preparation?”

Too many questions to answer

The former custodian also asked an uncomfortable question to the Indin hockey managements. “Men’s team loses to a top team → “It’s a learning experience.”
Beats an Asian team → “Great victory.”
Plays good hockey → “Good performance.” But here’s the uncomfortable question,” he added.

"Are we building a team to PLAY good hockey, or a team capable of WINNING against the best in the world? Stop hiding behind “learning”, “good hockey” and future tournaments. The World Cup is not a rehearsal.
It is the World Cup. So who is going to ask the difficult questions?
Who is going to demand accountability?
And most importantly…

“Does anyone actually care?” asked Sreejesh.

What's next for Indian hockey teams?

The Indian women's team will take on Germany on August 27 in a fifth-place classification match at the Wagener Stadium in Amstelveen. As far as the Indian men's team, they will play Belgium on August 28 at the Belfius Hockey Arena, Wavre.

The last time India won a medal at the hockey World Cup was in 1975 when the men's team defeated Pakistan in the final. India women's best finish at the hockey World Cup came in 1974, when they finished fourth.