CHENNAI: Experiment is a word that is often found in India women's hockey coach Sjoerd Marijne's dictionary. From letting his team play against Belgium junior boys' team to sending the India A contingent for Australia Hockey League, the Dutchman has made quite a few moves to make his wards more competitive.Now, with just a month-and-a-half before the World Cup in London, Marijne has decided to increase his squad size for the women's tour of Spain — the last series before the big event — from 15 to 20. India will play five matches against the hosts from June 10 to 21.
We will rotate players a lot during this tour because as much as getting good matches ahead of an important tournament like the World Cup, it is essential to keep players fresh, he had said when the squad was announced last Friday.Skipper Rani Rampal, who is back after being rested for Asian Champions Trophy (ACT), was on the same page with her coach. This is a test series. So we wanted to give youngsters exposure before they play big-ticket events like World Cup and Asian Games. They will get to know what we expect from them. If they step up, they will obviously be in the squad for the next events. It is about how quickly they adapt to our new plans and execute it. Having a huge pool of players for Spain is not only about providing exposure.
With India featuring in a World Cup after eight years (they failed to qualify for 2014), Rani revealed that the team is planning to try out different techniques that they want to implement in the next two major tournaments. To be honest, we are not too keen on a 5-0 result. It's more important to see if our tactics work or not. We have certain plans which we want to implement in World Cup and Asian Games. Hence, this tour is more of a reality check, explained Rampal. If it's successful, then we'll know that we are moving in the right direction. If it's not, we will have three to four weeks for rectifying that. Our main focus is on performance.
Though the women's team has improved remarkably in the last year (under different coaches), crossing the final line during crucial clashes has been a major concern.In Gold Coast, they lost 0-1 to Australia in the Commonwealth Games semifinals. During ACT in South Korea, after remaining unbeaten in the first four matches, they failed to clinch gold after conceding a solitary goal to the hosts.
Conversion of penalty corners is another area that needs work. In the last two tournaments, we were not up to the mark. To be competitive, we have to convert as many penalty corners as we can, remarked Rampal. We have a good drag-flicker in Gurjeet (Kaur). We need to utilise her strength. It's good that we are able to create chances, but the next step should be converting them.
srinidhi@newindianexpress.com