India needs to draw confidence from its Tokyo Olympics campaign and forget the rout at the Commonwealth Games final to claim a podium finish in next year's men's hockey World Cup, feels former captain and coach Vasudevan Baskaran.
"I believe they (India) can definitely finish on the podium in Odisha this time. They should move on from the CWG final loss to Australia and ride on the confidence they gained from the Tokyo Olympic Games," said 72-year-old Baskaran in Hockey India’s Flashback Series - World Cup Special.
Baskaran was the captain of India's 1980 Olympics gold medal winning team.
"The team is in the good hands of Graham Reid and the support staff. I believe they have a sure shot at a medal."
Baskaran stressed on the need to make a positive start against Spain in the World Cup to be jointly hosted by Bhubaneswar and Rourkela from January 13 to 29.
"If they get past the first hurdle against Spain in a big way, then there is no stopping them from going into medal matches."
Eight-time Olympic champion India has won just three medals (bronze in the inaugural, silver in 1973 and gold in 1975) at the World Cup since the event's inception in 1971.
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