Hockey India’s decision to change the colour of India’s official jersey for next month’s FIH World Cup in the Netherlands and Belgium is garnering mixed reactions.The men’s and women’s teams will don saffron jerseys instead of their traditional blue kits. Unveiling the new jersey on its social media pages, Hockey India said the design and colour of the jersey is meant to “tell a story” and carry “India's pride”.While HI said saffron symbolises courage, sacrifice and victory, former hockey captain Viren Rasquinha openly questioned the change and termed it ‘embarrassing’ in a social media post.“I must say that @TheHockeyIndia has done many good things for Indian hockey. But this is embarrassing. The legacy & identity of the Indian team has always been BLUE. I wore the Blue jersey with pride for many years. Fans want to see our Indian team in blue. What is the logic of orange?” he wrote.I must say that @TheHockeyIndia has done many good things for 🇮🇳 🏑. But this is embarrassing. The legacy & identity of the Indian team has always been BLUE. I wore the Blue jersey with pride for many years. Fans want to see our Indian team in blue. What is the logic of orange? https://t.co/apDnJkTld4— Viren Rasquinha (@virenrasquinha) July 29, 2026 Meanwhile, skipper Harmanpreet Singh defended the move, saying the decision was taken in the wake of technical reasons.“It's not the first time, actually. Before this, in 2013–14, we had a yellow jersey. After that, we switched to light blue and then dark blue,” Singh told The Bridge on Thursday. “This time, we've chosen saffron. There are a few technical reasons as well. For example, when you're on the field, the pitch is blue, and we're wearing everything in blue, so that creates some difficulties. It's not that we won medals…
This report has been adapted by the PurePlay Sports Desk from coverage by The Bridge, Google News — India Sports, NDTV Sports.