NEW DELHI: India’s leading drag-flickers used to come to training 45 minutes early for separate penalty corner sessions. That practice has been abolished by new coach Graham Reid as the Australian searches for those marginal gains to make the men’s side better. Harmanpreet Singh, fresh from skippering India at an Olympic test event in Tokyo, explains why they have brought about that change and the upcoming Belgium trip before Olympic qualifiers.
On the captain’s armband
It really depends on the coach. If you give someone responsibility, he will carry it out. That’s how Mandeep (Singh) and I got it. We enjoyed it a lot, we were normal like before. We supported each other.
Difficulty in playing without the captain’s label
It’s the captain’s responsibility to keep a team as a unit and ensure discipline. A captain has to speak to his team. He has to speak to a player who is looking out of touch to boost his confidence. The team was new, so we all supported each other.
The new players were told to play their natural game, not to take any kind of pressure. The team has most of the members who played the Junior World Cup (2016). So it was not difficult because you know each other. Seniors used to prepare strategies and discuss them in the team meeting.
The camp and Belgium tour
Every camp has some objectives. The main thing is to remain focused. Belgium will be a tough tour ahead of qualifiers. We can learn a lot during that tour which can help during the (Olympic) qualifiers. They are a very good team and you learn a lot during competitions like that. It also tells you where you stand and what improvements you need.
Penalty-corner sessions
The group practising penalty corners used to come in early for set-pieces. These days, we practice penalty corners while creating a match-like situation. It’s a good thing because when we get PCs during matches, we are tired. So it’s better to have that element (fatigue) when we are practising PCs.
India open against Dutch
India will take on the Netherlands in their opening Pro League match on January 18. They will then host Belgium before welcoming Australia two weeks later. They will travel to play away games in Germany and Great Britain before fixtures against New Zealand at home. They round off the campaign with away games against Argentina and Spain. Home games may be in Bhubaneswar.
Fixtures: Jan 18 & 19: vs Netherlands, Feb 8 & 9: vs Belgium, Feb 22 and 23: vs Australia, (all home). Apr 25 & 26: vs Germany, May 2 & 3: Great Britain, (both away). May 23 & 24: vs New Zealand (home). June 5 & 6: vs Argentina, June 13 & 14: vs Spain (both away).