Akashdeep Singh: Indian hockey team’s super striker

Akashdeep Singh has been Indian hockey’s goal-scoring machine since making his debut in 2012.

A slump in form saw him dropped from India’s Tokyo 2020 Olympics squad but Akashdeep Singh has worked his way back.

After the Tokyo snub, the Indian hockey player got back to the drawing board and has since added many facets to his already impressive skill set.

In his new avatar, Akashdeep Singh can now fall back as a midfielder if the situation demands. The transition has helped Akashdeep Singh, primarily a striker, cement his spot in the Indian squad once again.

Akashdeep Singh was part of India’s 18-member team for the FIH Hockey World Cup 2023 and was the only player besides PR Sreejesh and Manpreet Singh to have over 200 international caps in the squad. Akashdeep Singh has also scored over 80 goals for India.

Where is Akashdeep Singh from

Akashdeep Singh was born on December 2, 1994, in the Verowal village of Tarn Taran district in Punjab, India. His father Surinder Pal Singh worked as an inspector in Punjab Police while his younger brother Prabhdeep Singh is also a hockey player, and has represented India internationally.

Akashdeep Singh studied at Baba Gurmukh Singh Baba Uttam Singh Senior Secondary School in Tarn Taran district. He started playing hockey in school when he reached Class IV. Akashdeep Singh also played for Guru Angad Dev Sports Club initially.

Noticing his abilities, Akashdeep Singh’s parents sent him to PAU Hockey Academy in Ludhiana at the age of 12 to hone his skills.

For further coaching, Akashdeep Singh then moved to Jalandhar’s Surjit Hockey academy and remained there for four years. A premier goal scorer and adept at handling pressure in crunch situations, he excelled at domestic and national-level competitions.

In 2011, Akashdeep Singh was made captain of the Indian junior hockey team. He led India to a bronze medal in the Junior Asia Cup held in Malaysia in 2011.

A year later, Akashdeep Singh made his India senior debut at the Champions Trophy in 2012.

Akashdeep Singh's medals and achievements

Akashdeep Singh was instrumental in Indian hockey’s rise in the past decade. Two years after his international debut, he helped India win the gold medal at the 2014 Asian Games in Incheon, South Korea.

The striker breached the South Korean backline in a tight semi-final and scored the only goal of the match in the 44th minute. The result set up India’s clash against arch-rivals Pakistan in the final, which India won 4-2 on penalties.

In the same year, Akashdeep Singh had a relatively quiet 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow. However, his only goal of the tournament came when India were level at 2-2 against New Zealand in the semi-finals.

That decisive goal helped India enter a second major final in 2014. India eventually settled for a silver medal at the CWG having lost to Australia in the final.

Akashdeep Singh was also India’s top goal-scorer at the 2014 FIH Hockey World Cup in Hague with five goals. Hockey India honoured Akashdeep Singh with the Dhanraj Pillay Award For Forward Of The Year in 2014.

Leading India’s attack at Rio 2016 Olympics

Akashdeep Singh led India’s attack at the Rio 2016 Olympics. He scored a crucial goal in a draw against Canada and gave India an early lead over eventual silver medallists Belgium in the quarter-finals.

India, however, conceded three goals after taking the lead and were knocked out after losing to Belgium 3-1.

Two years later, Akashdeep Singh failed to net a single goal at the Commonwealth Games 2018 in Gold Coast as India returned empty-handed after finishing fourth.

Nevertheless, Akashdeep Singh scored 13 at the Asian Games 2018 in Jakarta later that year to finish as the joint second-highest goal-scorer of the tournament. India settled for the bronze after losing to Malaysia in the semi-final shootout and beating Pakistan 2-1 in the bronze medal play-off.

Akashdeep Singh wasn’t among the top goal scorers at the 2018 Asian Champions Trophy but was declared the player of the tournament due to his role in the midfield.

At the 2018 FIH Hockey World Cup in Bhubaneswar, Akashdeep Singh scored just once in the group stage in India’s 5-0 win over South Africa. But with the knack of scoring in the knockouts, Akashdeep Singh came alive against heavyweights the Netherlands and put India in the front in the 12th minute.

However, the Dutch soon found the equaliser and thumped in a winner in the 50th minute to crush Indian hopes of progressing further.

In 2020, Akashdeep Singh was presented the Arjuna Award - India’s second-highest honour for sportspersons.

He failed to make the Indian squad for Tokyo 2020 owing to poor form but has since re-established himself as a vital cog in India’s attack.

He scored thrice at the Commonwealth Games 2022 in Birmingham as India ended the tournament with another silver medal after losing to Australia in the final.

In the five-match Test against Australia in late 2022, Akashdeep Singh scored a hat-trick in India’s 5-4 defeat in the opening match and a brilliant 59th-minute winning goal in the third match helped India break a 12-match winless streak against the world No. 1 side.

Akashdeep Singh was also part of the India squad which won the gold medal at the Asian Champions Trophy 2023 in Chennai.

Akashdeep Singh hockey achievements

• Junior Asia Cup 2011 - Bronze medal
• Commonwealth Games 2014 - Silver medal
• Commonwealth Games 2022 - Silver medal
• Asian Games 2014 - Gold medal
• Asian Games 2018 - Bronze medal
• Dhanraj Pillay Award For Forward Of The Year in 2014
• Represented India at Rio 2016 Olympics
• Arjuna Award in 2020
• Asian Champions Trophy 2023 - Gold medal