The Indian hockey teams – both men’s and women’s – got off to a flying start at the Asian Games 2026 on September 20. The men’s team defeated Indonesia 13–1, powered by a four-goal performance from Dilpreet Singh. On the other hand, the women’s team produced a record-breaking performance as they crushed Uzbekistan 19–0, led by an eight-goal blitz from Deepika Sehrawat. However, over and above these performances, the drama over the colour of their jerseys is once again taking centre stage.
On September 20, both the men’s and women’s teams started their matches wearing saffron kits. This was a big surprise since before the start of the tournament, Hockey India president Dilip Tirkey had promised that teams would revert to wearing their original blue jerseys at the continental tournament.
“The Indian Olympic Association (IOA) had given us options regarding the team kit colours, and Hockey India selected blue as the first choice for the Indian team’s kit. Orange will be the second choice,” Tirkey had said during the send-off ceremony.
Blue jersey was never an option for Asian Games
Even though the Hockey India President said this, it turns out that saffron was always planned to be the main colour of the India jerseys for the Asian Games, according to a report by PTI. The second choice is a mix of white and sky blue. In fact, plans for an all-blue kit did not exist for the Asian Games 2026 at all.
In fact, the report also states that Dilip Tirkey himself knew of this decision all along, even though the Hockey India president said otherwise.
“The two colours for the Indian teams’ playing kits for the Asian Games 2026 were always saffron and the combination of white and sky blue, which was approved by the HI president himself. As to why the president then said that India will wear all-blue at the Asian Games is something you need to ask the president himself,” an unnamed Hockey India source close to the proceedings told PTI.
The orange jersey conundrum
This is not the first time that a change in the colours of the Indian jersey has caused a big problem. Just before the start of the Hockey World Cup last month, the colours of the jersey were changed from blue to orange, with the reason being given that the blue colours mix with the blue turf of a hockey field.
The arguments regarding this inside Hockey India got so bad that they took strict action against a top official. Hockey India’s Director General, Cdr R K Srivastava, had his powers taken away. The official reason for his demotion specifically included the sudden, unauthorised change in the jersey colours.
