Sunita Lakra, the defender and former captain of the Indian women's hockey team has announced retirement from game.  Sunita, a key member of the Jakarta Asian Games silver medalist team played in 2018, had been suffering from knee injury for a long time. Sunita said, 'She will have to undergo knee surgery again due to injury. In this way, the 28-year-old's dream of making a place in the Indian team for the Tokyo Olympics was shattered. According to the statement released by Hockey India, She said, "Today is a very emotional day for me because I have decided to retire from International hockey." Sunita, after joining the team since 2008, captained India during the 2018 Asian Champions Trophy in which the team finished second. She played 139 matches for India and was also part of the 2014 Asian Games bronze medal winning team.

"I was fortunate to be able to play in the 2016 Rio Olympics in which the Indian women's team participated for the first time in three decades, but knee injuries broke my dream of being part of the Indian team for the Tokyo Olympics," she said.

Sunita said, "The doctors told me that I will have to undergo another surgery for this in the coming days. I do not know how long it will take to recover completely. "She said that after recovering from surgery she would continue playing in the domestic hockey. She said, 'After my treatment I will play domestic hockey and will play for Nalco, who helped my career a lot by giving me a job.' Sunita also thanked teammates, Hockey India and head coach Sord Marine.