The Indian women’s hockey team will be tested during the course of a five-match series from April 26 to May 4 in Australia. India will first face the Australian ‘A’ team on April 26 and 27, before taking on the senior side from May 1 at the Perth Hockey Stadium.
The Indian team is coming off a mixed bag of performances in the FIH Pro League at home, with two wins and a shootout win in eight matches. It its last match, it clinched a morale-boosting win over World No. 1 Netherlands, winning in a thrilling shootout after a 2-2 draw in regulation time.
Coach Harendra Singh has named a 26-member squad for the series, with captain Salima Tete and vice-captain Navneet Kaur leading the side. Young dragflicking sensation Deepika has been in incredible form as she scored three crucial goals in India’s FIH Hockey Pro League matches in February and will be looking to build on her performance.
In the same tournament, Udita Singh scored two goals and played exceptionally well in defence over the four matches she featured in for India. The spotlight will also be on veteran goalkeeper Savita, who recently made her 300th international appearance for India.
Five players – Jyoti Singh, Sujata Kujur, Ajmina Kujur, Pooja Yadav, and Mahima Tete – have earned a call-up to the senior team and could make their senior team debut.
Australia has always been a tough opponent for India. However, even though Australia has won 10 and drawn three of the 16 matches played between the two sides, India has recently done well against it. It beat Australia 1-0 in the last encounter between the two teams in the FIH Hockey Pro League 2023-24.
Ahead of the five-match series, Tete said, “ We are excited to play here in Perth and we believe we are well-prepared to win matches against Australia. All the girls have been working extremely hard and we will give it our all against both the Australia A and the senior team. I am also looking forward to seeing how the young players and debutants in our squad will perform. This series is a good chance for us to assess our performance ahead of the FIH Pro League matches coming ahead in Europe.”
Harendra spoke along similar lines and said, “The girls have worked extremely hard in the month-long training camp we had in Bengaluru. I believe this squad is capable of defeating any opponent and we are determined to win matches in this series. Playing Australia in their home is surely a challenging task, but we are up for it. “
