Hockey: Salima Tete says India’s main focus is on fitness – ‘If we are fit, believe we can defeat any team in the world’

One of the fastest players in the world of hockey, Salima has seen other players working on their fitness and improving certain aspects of their game. “Not everyone has speed in our team, but since we have started working on fitness, players like Lalremsiami, Sharmila, and Sunelita Toppo have improved on their speed massively. Our main focus is fitness at the moment. Every time we come back from a break, the whole bunch has to go through the yo-yo test,” Salima added.

Specific drills

Defender Jyoti Rumavat, who was awarded the player of the tournament award in the Women’s Hockey India League, concurred with her skipper’s views, explaining how the team undertakes specific drills to improve certain actions. “As defenders, we take the sprint drill very seriously. During the drill, we go to and fro over a very short distance. This is very helpful for us when there is a counter from the opposition team, and the defenders have to move back to the defensive shape quickly. Similarly, it helps when we counter,” Jyoti told The Indian Express.

Defender Jyoti Rumavat, who was awarded the player of the tournament award in the Women’s Hockey India League, concurred with her skipper’s views, explaining how the team undertakes specific drills to improve certain actions. (File/Hockey india)

Under coach Harendra, a lot of focus has been on improving the decision-making during a game. “We play the three-minute games during practice to see how quickly we make decisions when our body is tired, trying to simulate a real match scenario,” Jyoti said. “In a three-minute game, our body is tired very quickly, and when the body is tired, one can make poor decisions. So, we play such games to see how accurate the decisions can be, like passing the ball to a player in the right position and being aware if any opposition player is chasing us.”

Learnings from Australia

The Indian women’s team recently toured Australia for a five-match series, where they played three games against Australia and two against Australia A. India lost four games on the tour and won the last one; however, the players agreed that the result was not the main focus of the tour.

“Harendra Sir had told us to take these games as practice matches and the tour as an exposure tour. We lacked in finishing, and Harendra Sir is working a lot in that area. What we learnt is not to give up ever, which was visible in our 1-0 win against Australia in the last match,” Salima said.

When Jyoti was asked about her experience from the Australia tour, she said, “The experience of the Australia tour was good. We tried new things in practice, and we know what is working for us and what is not. As a defender, my learnings were how to motivate the team when we are down and how to maintain speed and control while defending a lead, like in the first game.”

European Leg of Pro League

India’s next big assignment is the European leg of the FIH Pro League. Starting from 7th June, they will play two matches each against Australia, Argentina, Belgium, and China. India are placed sixth with two wins, two draws and four losses from the eight games played at home in February.

“Yes, we will be playing without the crowd support we get in India, and the conditions will be different, but we have to focus on ourselves,” Salima said. “We had an inconsistent run last time, but produced some good results like defeating the Olympic Champion Netherlands in a shoot-out. So, we have our learnings from the first leg that we will implement in Europe.”

While India have recently played against Australia and China, Argentina and Belgium will also pose some tough questions. Jyoti believes that the changes in training and more self-awareness will allow the team to perform better.

“We have brought some changes in training, like apart from the staff, now the players also have started analysing the opposition teams. Like, we observed the Australian team during the tour or the Chinese team during the Asian Champions Trophy last year. So, I believe we will perform better this time,” she said.