CHENNAI: Young Indian goalkeeper Bansari Solanki will be one of the promising talents to keep a close eye on when the Women's Hockey India League (HIL) kicks off on Sunday. From having to play with local kits in Surat to being part of the senior's women's team this year, her journey has witnessed some big names act as guiding forces in shaping her game. Growing up in Gujarat — which is less known for hockey — she stumbled into the sport when she was class eight. She is now part of the Indian team setup and is learning from the game's best.
Retained by the SG Pipers for the second season of the Women's HIL, the talented Solanki is considered one for the future.
It has to be noted that Solanki has played mostly in the 5s format, the shorter format of the game. Former India women's team goalkeeper and SG Pipers assistant coach Helena Mary felt she is in a good environment to prosper. "We got a world-best goalkeeper in Cristy (Cristina Cosentino). So she is patching up (to the longer format) and she is doing really well," she said in a virtual interaction ahead of the Pipers' first game. Cosentino is Pipers' new signing from Argentina, who won the bronze medal with Argentina in the 2024 Paris Olympics.
Solanki, who grew up with an ambition of becoming an engineer like her father, saw an unprecedented turn towards hockey. It started out when she took up the sport for fun in Surat, beginning as a defender. But when her school team did not have a goalkeeper, she was moved to goalkeeping by her school coach. And after thriving in that department during selection trials, she was spotted by one of the sport's legends Dhanraj Pillay, who was the executive director and chief coach of the hockey programme at the Sports Authority of Gujarat. After that, she moved out of her home in Surat to train in Vadodara. Then, according to Hockey India, she moved to New Delhi when she was just 17 to train under Olympian Romeo James, who was the coach of the National Hockey Academy.
In the 5s format, she helped India win gold in the Hockey5s Asia Cup in 2023 — where she was named Best Rising Goalkeeper — before being part of the team that won silver in the FIH Hockey5s World Cup in Oman last year.
This year, she was part of the women's Asia Cup team that played in Gongshu, China. While not getting to play there, she gained valuable experience from her senior colleagues.
This campaign of the Women's HIL may well be an opportunity for her to add more to her goalkeeping tools. However, Mary touted her to be in the senior Indian setup soon. "We don't have to do much with her. The goalkeepers always move like vines when they grow. I can see her in two, three years she will be the first team goalkeeper," added the 1998 Asian Games silver medallist.
The Pipers' head coach Sofie Gierts of Belgium recalled how she was impressed with Solanki's positioning in goal. "In the first training, I was impressed with her line work. Indian players can have good shots on goal and you can see that she has quality there," she added.
This could be from her experience playing in hockey 5s where one-on-one situations are the norm for the keepers. What she may have to learn, in the professional format, is the way she handles set-pieces like penalty corners.
For someone who did not even consider hockey as a career option growing up, lessons from the game's best could only do more good to a talent like Bansari. But what stands out is her constant hunger to improve. "What I see in Bani (Bansari) is a confident player and she really shows her ambition. She is really open for all discussion," Gierts added.
Watch SG Pipers vs Ranchi Royals on 28th December 2025, in Ranchi at 7:30 PM IST on Sony Sports Network and DD Sports