Five top-scorers for India in Men's Hockey World Cup history

One of these players will represent the nation in the upcoming edition.

India has been part of all 14 men’s World Cup editions, winning only the 1975 edition. Several players have performed exceptionally well in single editions or combined editions. This article consists of the top five players who are the top-scorers for India at the Men's Hockey World Cup. Akashdeep Singh is the lone active Indian to feature in the list and also has a chance to move ahead in the table. With his recent form, the forward can overtake Rajinder Singh to become the highest goal scorer.

Shivendra Singh (7)

Shivendra Singh from Uttar Pradesh has scored seven goals for India in the World Cup (overall). The centre-forward player apart from winning the World Cup has won several trophies ( bronze at the 2010 Asian Games, silver at the 2010 Commonwealth Games, and gold at the 2010 Azlan Sultan Shah Cup). He was part of the Punjab Warriors team in the Hockey India League in 2013.

Surinder Singh Sodhi (8)

Surender Singh Sodhi is best known for his heroics at the 1980 Olympic Games where the centre-forward scored two crucial goals in the finals against Spain with India winning the gold medal after a gap of 16 years. Overall, Sodhi scored a whopping 15 goals the joint most by an Indian (single edition of Olympics) with Udham Singh too scoring 15 goals at the 1956 edition.

Akashdeep Singh (10)

Akashdeep Singh is the only player in the top five who is an active part of the Indian team. The attacking player was part of the 2018 World Cup team and will be one of the important players in the forwards. Currently, he is in terrific form having scored a hat trick and a total of four goals in the recently held test series against Australia. The 28-year-old has represented India since 2012 having played more than 200 matches and scoring close to 90 goals. Akashdeep Singh leaps ahead to the third spot after scoring three goals at the 2022 hockey World Cup.

Surjit Singh (11)

Surjit Singh is the second-highest goal scorer for the Indian team in the men’s hockey World Cup scoring 11 goals. He won the silver medal at the 1973 World cup and then the gold medal at the 1975 World Cup. Surjit Singh has also been part of two silver medal-winning Asian Games teams (1974 and 1978). He was the highest goal scorer in the 1978 Asian Games and was also part of the all-star XI at the hockey World Cup. He died at the young age of 32 but left behind a legacy by winning several awards.

Rajinder Singh (12)

Rajinder Singh is the top-scorer for India (combining all the scores) at the Men's Hockey World Cup. He has been an important player for India in the 1980s with a career-spanning for over a decade. He was part of the 1980 Olympics team where India went on to win the gold medal and since India has never won a gold medal at the Olympics. Rajinder apart from winning the Olympics has also been part of the silver medal-winning team Asian Games in 1982. He also is one of the few Indians to coach both the men’s and women’s national teams.

The list has been sourced from www.hockeypassion.in