'There can be anything bigger than that': Krishan Pathak opens on his return to Indian team for Hockey Asian Champions Trophy Punjab 2026

While the Indian team was scripting Asian Games history in Japan, Krishan Bahadur Pathak was fine-tuning his goalkeeping skills in Bengaluru, working hard for a return to the national colours. He spent more than nine months on the sidelines, but come October 27, the 29-year-old custodian will be back guarding the Indian post at the Asian Champions Trophy 2026. The icing on the cake: he will be playing on home soil in Punjab.

Pathak has been included in the 18-member India squad, replacing Mohith HS for the October 27 to November 5 tournament to be held in Jalandhar and Mohali.

The venue in Jalandhar - Olympian Surjit Singh Hockey Stadium - is also home to the Surjit Hockey Academy where Pathak grew up learning the sport.

"What makes the occasion even bigger for me and others from the Surjit Hockey Academy is that we will be playing at the same ground where we learned the sport for seven years," said Pathak, who last made his India appearance during the tour of South Africa in December 2025.

"I don’t think there can be anything bigger than that. I would like to thank the Punjab government and Hockey India for giving us this opportunity," he added.

Pathak Reflects On His Preparation

Carrying an experience of 156 caps, Pathak was the understudy of legendary PR Sreejesh who retired after the Paris 2024 Olympics. He now wants to make all his experience count, having worked on things he needed to improve during his time with India’s development team in Bengaluru.

However, he did travel with the team to the FIH World Cup in Netherlands and Belgium as a non-playing member before the Asian Games.  

"Whatever the coach told me in terms of improvement, I was working on that while here in Bengaluru with the development team. I believe I have done that and am now focused on this opportunity at the Asian Champions Trophy," said Pathak.

"We (the development team) played matches against the Karnataka senior national team in Bengaluru. But besides the matches and team training, we did extra goalkeeping sessions so that I keep working on the things that I was told to improve upon," he added.

India To Face Bangladesh In Tournament Opener

India will begin the tournament against Bangladesh on October 27, followed by matches against China on October 29, Japan on October 30, Malaysia on November 1 and South Korea on November 2.

All league-stage matches will be played in Jalandhar from October 27 to November 2, while Mohali will host the semi-finals and the medal matches on November 4 and 5.

India enter the tournament as the most successful team with five titles – 2011, 2016, 2018 (joint winners), 2023 and 2024.