The sense of excitement in the Indian men’s hockey team comes through as it reached Buenos Aires for its first set of FIH Pro League matches in more than a year. Having won via a Penalty Shootout (3-1) after drawing 2-2 with Australia in the Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneswar on February 22 last year, India is all set to take on reigning Olympic champion Argentina.
The tour will also feature four practice matches against Argentina besides the back-to-back FIH Pro League matches on April 11 and 12. The 22-member Indian team, led by Manpreet Singh, reached Buenos Aires late on Thursday evening and will have its eyes on the Argentina’s Pro League games featuring Germany on April 3 and 4.
At the time of writing, Germany (13 points from six matches), India (10 from six) and Argentina (10 from eight) occupy the fourth, fifth and sixth places on the Pro League table behind Belgium (32 points from 13 matches), the Netherlands (18 from 11) and Australia (14 from eight). New Zealand, Spain and Britain bring up the bottom third of the nine-member competition.
The Indian team, used to being in a bio-bubble and understanding the protocols well, is expected to handle the challenge well. With help from Sports Authority of India, Hockey India kept the team together in Bengaluru through lockdown and later. Besides, the two institutions collaborated in planning the team’s journey to Argentina, including a 13-hour layover in Paris, in such a way that it did not feel the strain.
Manpreet Singh said the team is looking forward to yet another unbeaten tour. “Not playing competitive hockey for over a year has been a big setback, but this is something every team in the world is facing due to the pandemic. It was very encouraging to see the team perform against Germany and Britain, though I missed that tour for personal reasons,” he said.
The selectors have picked quite a few youngsters in the squad and the captain believes the tour will be a great opportunity for them to show their mettle against a top-notch team. “Every change we are getting in these challenging times is like a blessing and we need to make the most of it,” he said. Jaskaran Singh, Sumit and Shilanand Lakra will be playing their first match in over a year.
The team travelled to Europe last month to play some matches against Germany and Britain in Belgium as part of its preparation for the Pro League engagements as well as the Olympic Games in Tokyo later this year.
Manpreet Singh, who recovered from a Covid-19 infection last year, said it was more of a mental battle than anything else. “I was off hockey for nearly six weeks, but I was very fortunate to receive the best care, thanks to Hockey India and SAI. This tour will help the team assess our performance and enable me understand the areas I need to improve on individually,” he said.
The experienced defender and dragflicker Rupinder Pal Singh has returned to the side for his first tour since 2019 when India travelled to Belgium. He missed out on India’s tour of Europe earlier this year due to a hamstring injury. “I am super excited to be back in the squad,” he said.
“Against Argentina, it will be all about finding that rhythm. It is important to play simple hockey, as Chief Coach Graham Reid always says and not do anything too dramatic. Focus will be on basic skills, strong defence, good on-field communication and coordination with each other,” he said.
The squad: PR Sreejesh, Krishan Bahadur Pathak; Amit Rohidas, Gurinder Singh, Harmanpreet Singh (Vice-Captain), Surender Kumar; Birendra Lakra, Hardik Singh, Vivek Sagar Prasad, Manpreet Singh (Captain), Raj Kumar Pal, Nilakanta Sharma, Shamsher Singh, Gurjant Singh, Dilpreet Singh, Mandeep Singh and Lalit Kumar Upadhyay.
The schedule (all times IST)
April 6 (8.30 p.m.): Practice match.
April 7 (8.30 p.m.) : Practice match.
April 11 (1.30 a.m.): Pro League match.
April 12 (1.30 a.m.): Pro League match.
April 13 (7.30 p.m.): Practice match.
April 14 (7.30 p.m.) : Practice match.
