Viren Rasquinha, the former India captain, believed that India would need to not concede unnecessary penalty corners for success at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.
“In the Australia series, as well as the last few FIH Pro League matches, they’ve just been considering far too many penalty corners,” Rasquinha said during a panel discussion organised by the Sports Journalists Association of Mumbai on Tuesday.
“The defence doesn’t start with the four defenders. Once you lose possession of the ball, every single player starting with the forward becomes the first line of defence,” he said.
“If you defend as a team and attack as a team, everyone has a role to play. It doesn’t matter whether you’re 30 seconds off on the pitch, you’ve got to make it count…,” he added.
Leroy D’Sa (from left), Purav Raja, Suma Shirur, Adille Sumariwalla and Viren Rasquinha during a panel discussion at the Bombay Gymkhana on Tuesday. | Photo Credit: Shayan Acharya/The Hindu
The team, which finished with a bronze medal in the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, is placed in Pool B alongside defending champion Belgium, Australia, Argentina, New Zealand and Ireland.
Keeping that in mind, Rasquinha believes that the onus to perform will be on the seasoned custodian P. R. Sreejesh and captain Harmanpreet Singh.
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“You cannot win tournaments without a solid defence and a sensational keeper. A lot of, I would say, the burden on the shoulders of Sreejesh and the defence set by Harmanpreet to keep it really tight,” he said.
Talking about his predictions, the former captain said, “You would expect to get to the quarterfinals and then on the other side, you have Holland, Germany, Spain, Great Britain.
Harmanpreet Singh, Indian field hockey team captain, during training at Sports Authority of India, for the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, France. | Photo Credit: MURALI KUMAR K
“One of these teams is going to meet in the quarterfinals. Irrespective of what position you are (in), it’s going to be a very, very tough quarter-final match…”
Last week, Hockey India named a 16-member squad for the event, but there weren’t any surprises.
“I’m happy that the coach (Craig Fulton) has got the team of his choice. Especially in hockey, where, unlike cricket, there are fewer stats to back you up, it’s very important for the coach to get a team of his choice,” Rasquinha said.
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