CHENNAI: Odisha may have signed off on a fairly successful revamped Hockey India League but the season is just beginning for the both senior national teams. The Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneswar, no stranger to the sport, will host a round of Pro league games starting on Saturday, with both sides in action (the women's side will kick-start proceedings with a match vs England with the men facing Spain later in the evening).
Even if there are no global hockey events this year, it starts a fairly important season for both sides leading into next year's World Cup as well as the Asian Games. With the Pro League itself doubling up as a qualifier for the quadrennial bash in 2026, both sides have made it their stated aim to rubber-stamp their place there (Netherlands and Belgium are co-hosting the event) at the first time of asking.
Actually doing it is the hard bit, especially the women's side, whose opponents — the likes of Germany, Netherlands, Spain among others — are a cut above. They are also getting used to the system being put in place by Harendra Singh, who has been in situ for less than a year. Harendra coached the side to the Asian Champions Trophy last year but European opponents will be harder to beat.
"We will focus on our game," said Salima Tete in the pre tournament press-conference on Friday. "There are some players who will be playing their first Pro League matches after the Olympics. Winning and losing is a part of the game but what is important is to play our best hockey. It's a big opportunity for us but we aren't thinking about the results. We will try our best and the focus is on every single match."
The onus is on Harendra, Tete and others to put behind a difficult 2024. "We are facing challenging opponents," Tete said. "But I'm confident the girls are ready to take on the challenge. We had a disappointing season last time, but I feel we are well prepared this time around."
Curiously enough, both national set-ups, who have been training in the State since the completion of the league earlier this month, have a different larger picture in mind. For the women's team, it's about building a competitive team ahead of the World Cup. For the men? It's about integrating the young turks into Craig Fulton's very unique way of playing — "defend to win" where the onus is structure, control and not the all-out attack propagated by former coach Graham Reid — the game. One player to watch out for will be Arshdeep Singh, who excelled for the Hyderabad franchise in the league.
"It's a building phase for us," coach Fulton said. "We will look to try out things and see what best suits us. We will like to use our players' HIL experience and integrate their learning into the team." Captain Harmanpreet Singh spoke from the same hymn sheet. "We have seen some good domestic players in HIL," the drag-flicker said. "It was an opportunity for youngsters and they performed."
At some level, if Fulton & Co can successfully integrate some of the youngsters it will complete a nice circle because the likes of Harmanpreet and Manpreet were products of the first HIL before the league was jettisoned.
At the other end of the field, what Krishan Pathak does under the sticks will also be watched. With PR Sreejesh retired, 2025 marks a sort of changing of the guard as far as the keeper spot is concerned. Pathak, after being the understudy for so long, starts as the senior keeper but he knows it comes with expectations.
Can Pathak succeed? Will the women's team put behind a below average 2024? Will Fulton, after leading India to yet another Olympic bronze, capitalise on the leads given by HIL? Answers to some of these questions will be known in the next 10 days or so.