"History will be repeated after 4 decades" - Hockey legend Dhanraj Pillay confident that Indian men will advance to Paris Olympics final [Exclusive]

Former Olympian Dhanraj Pillay is confident that the Indian men's team will overcome a formidable German challenge in the hockey semifinals at the Paris Olympics 2024. Regarded as one of the best Indian forwards of all time, the hockey wizard commended the senior players of the current side for gelling admirably with the junior lot to create a cohesive unit.

During an exclusive interaction with Sportskeeda, the 56-year-old, a recipient of the Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna award in the year 2000, also lauded the Indians for putting up a gritty show against Great Britain in the quarterfinals.

"I am very confident about India's chances in tomorrow's semi-final against Germany. The boys will give their 110% to make sure that they will be playing the finals - and history will be repeated after 4 decades," the hockey stalwart opined.

"If you see how India has performed in the last 6 matches, especially given the way the seniors like Sreejesh, Harmanpreet Singh and.Manpreet Singh have performed, the way they are taking the team forward and gelling with all the junior boys has been admirable," Dhanraj Pillay observed.

The four-time Olympian stated that the Indians had practised playing with 10 players on the pitch which paid off during their quarterfinal encounter.

Amit Rohidas, who was shown a red card in the 18th minute for what was deemed to be a deliberate swing of the stick onto Will Calnan's face, will now also miss the semifinal although the Indians can field 11 players against Germany.

The eight-time champions will play with a squad of 15 with Amit Rohidas unavailable for the rolling substitutions in Tuesday's game.

"This team has practised very hard how to contest with 10 players. in yesterday's game (against Great Britain) playing with 10 players and that too against a team like Great Britain shows they are mentally tough and the way the forward line is supporting the defence line," Dhanraj Pillay affirmed.

After forcing a shootout against Great Britain, the Indian men's team held their nerve to advance to a second successive semifinal at the Olympics.

"Follow game-plan end enjoy the 60 minutes" - Dhanraj Pillay's advice to Indian men's hockey team ahead of big semifinal

Dhanraj Pillay, who represented India at the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona, the 1996 Games in Atlanta, the year 2000 edition of the Olympics in Sydney and the 2004 Athens Games, is all too familiar with the pressure of the big event.

The Khadki-born player asserted that Craig Fulton's team would need to not only follow the game plan laid out by the think-tank but also enjoy their 60 minutes on the pitch if they are to emerge victorious.

"Whatever strategy and game plan will be laid out by the coaches and support staff adhere to that, don't be under any pressure, just go and enjoy 60 minutes of your game," said the hockey veteran who was part of India's gold-medal winning team at the 1998 Asian Games.

India will take on Germany in the second semifinal of the men's hockey competition at the Yves-du-Manoir on Tuesday (August 6) at 10.30pm IST while the Netherlands will face Spain in the first semi on the same day.

Back in the Tokyo Olympics, the Indian men's hockey team defeated Germany 5-4 to finish on the podium for the first time in 41 years.

The Harmanpreet Singh-led Indian side will now aim to become the first Indian men's hockey team to make it to an Olympic final since the 1980 Moscow Games.