Foreign exposure useful, says women's hockey team capt Rani

Indian women's hockey team's captain Rani Rampal says the squad members are getting a lot of foreign exposure which is helping the side improve its performance.

"We are getting lots of foreign exposure and it is helping in improving our performance. Right now we are focusing on (the) New Zealand tour and then the target will be to give our best in (the FIH) World League semifinals in July," Rani told PTI in an email interaction.

The Indian women are to play a five-match hockey Test Series in New Zealand after a successful outing in West Vancouver, Canada where they won the Women's Hockey World League Round 2 and qualified for the Women's Hockey World League Semi Final to be played in Johannesburg.

"New Zealand tour will be a good preparatory tour for us ahead of the World League semi final and this exposure will help us improve and also understand our weak points," she had said before the team's departure.

She said as the team leader, one of her responsibilities was motivating youngsters.

"As a team leader you always have to interact and coordinate with everyone on the field and motivate youngsters to play well," said the Haryana-born player.

Asked to identify the stand-out player in Canada, Rani did not specifically name a player and attributed it to team work.

"Each individual player played well as per the strategy made by our coaches and team coordination also played an important role in the victory (in the Hockey World League Round 2)," said Rani, who plays as a forward.