India will eye redemption when they take on newly-crowed world champions Germany in their FIH Men’s Hockey Pro League fixture in Rourkela on Friday.
Led by star drag-flicker Harmanpreet Singh, the Indian team had made a shock last-16 exit in the World Cup held in January.
“Every match at this stage is challenging for us, especially when the oppositions are Australia and Germany,” said the India skipper, who is currently one of the three joint top-scorers in the tournament.
“However, it’s good for us that we are getting to play such challenging matches as our focus is on Asian Games. So, we will make sure that we improve as a team by playing such games and give our best in the future,” Harmanpreet added.
India were at their wasteful best and failed to make use of their most circle entries (155) in the World Cup.
“In the camp (in Bengaluru) we spoke and worked on it. To make sure we have three targets and if we are not able to do that, we need to focus on keeping the ball and not giving it away cheaply. The main focus is on handling pressure and improving our decision-making,” he said.
This is India’s first match after the departure of Graham Reid. Craig Fulton was named as their coach but the South African is expected to join the team later.
Interim coaches David John and BJ Kariappa will be at the helm for the four matches.
Following their World Cup debacle, India have axed senior players Mandeep Singh, Akashdeep Singh and Amit Rohidas, while goalkeeper Krishan Pathak will be missing due to his wedding.
Having elevated to vice-captaincy, Hardik Singh said India will tweak their strategy, but their core values will remain the same.
“There will be minor changes to our strategy, but our core values and principles of the team will remain the same. Also, we will not only focus on our attacking style of play, but also work on keeping the possession,” Hardik said.
India, who are currently fourth in the points tally, hosted New Zealand and Spain at the Kalinga Stadium last year in October in the FIH Hockey Pro League 2022/2023.
They kicked off their campaign with a superb 4-3 and 7-4 win against New Zealand, followed by a 3-2 loss and a 2-2 draw against Spain.
On the other hand, Germany who are ranked fifth in the Pro League with eight points from four games, will be oozing with confidence having won the World Cup.
Led by Mats Grambusch, the German team will aim to continue their rich vein of form and will be eager to put their best foot forward against the hosts.
However, Grambusch believes that the World Cup win is now a thing of the past and the team needs to keep working on becoming better with each passing day.
“All our matches in the World Cup 2023 were really close as we won our quarterfinal and final games through shootouts.
“We secured victory in the semi-final in the last few seconds of the game. So, considering that there will be many competing games against some good teams like Australia, India, Belgium, and Netherlands in the lead up to the 2024 Paris Olympics, we have to improve what we can improve and that’s going to be our focus,” Grambusch said.
Rourkela will host all six matches, where India, Germany, and Australia will play each other twice.