The Bhubaneswar leg of the 2024-25 FIH Pro League finished on Tuesday with both the Indian men's and women's teams impressing in their last games. The men finished with five wins out of eight and are currently sitting third on the table behind England and Belgium but only by a point. The women have two wins out of eight and a shootout victory against the Netherlands which took them to nine points from eight matches and sixth on the table.
Here are the takeaways from an interesting fortnight for both the Indian teams:
Indian women show positive signs
Victories over England and Germany followed by a very impressive 2-2 draw against the Netherlands were impressive from the Indian women's team. Inconsistency is an issue but Salima Tete and co. have shown improvements on the field and were able to get positive results against quality sides.
Harendra Singh's style focuses on high work rate and quick transitions, which the team managed to showcase in their matches. Harendra also wanted to improve the finishing aspect which was seen during these games, especially with Deepika, Baljeet Kaur and Rutuja Dadaso Pisal's goals. Apart from the two matches against Spain and Germany, which they lost 0-1 and 0-4, the team played to their strengths. There's no doubt that the scope for improvement is there, mostly with regards to consistency, but it looks like the team is on the right track.
Indian men impress but Jugraj doesn't
Five wins out of eight is impressive from the men's team and it included victories over Spain, Germany, England and Ireland. The team defended well, in fact they conceded the least number goals -- 12 - among all the nations in the first half of this Pro League season. But if there's one issue, it is penalty corner conversion.
It was only in the fifth match -- against the Irish -- that India converted their first penalty corner in the leg and that too was a variation. In fact, it was only in the final game against England that Harmanpreet Singh scored direct penalty corners.
Jugraj Singh came into the tournament with red hot form thanks to his exploits at the Hockey India League, where he scored 12 goals but he failed to replicate the same for the national team. He played in all eight games, got the chances to score from penalty corners but failed to convert. India scored field goals thanks to Mandeep Singh, Sukhjeet Singh, Abhishek and Gurjant Singh, so the lack of penalty corner goals didn't really impact the team but Jugraj will know that he hasn't delivered when it was needed, even when Harmanpreet missed three games due to an injury.
There's Amandeep Lakra waiting on the sidelines who also impressed in the HIL with his dragflicks. Fulton will now have to decide whether he persists with Jugraj, who's no doubt the second best after Harmanpreet when it comes to dragflicks or give a chance to a youngster.
Players who impressed
For the men, there are usual names like Hardik Singh, Abhishek, and Amit Rohidas who rarely have bad games but the standout ones were Mandeep Singh, Rajinder Singh and goalkeeper Suraj Karkera.
There was some sort of pressure on Mandeep as the veteran had not been in great form but the eight games gave him a chance to prove why Fulton should continue to pick him. He scored three goals, which included a range of finishes, from smashing past the Irish goalkeeper to a deft deflection from a penalty corner.
Krishan Pathak became the India no. 1 after PR Sreejesh's retirement but he now faces competition from Karkera whose composure during the set pieces stood out. He will get more chances to play and will become an India regular in the coming years.
Meanwhile, Rajinder's stick skills also impressed, especially in the first four matches. Based on this outing, it looks like he will continue to get opportunities in the future.
In the women's team, Rutuja had her moments as a forward. Savita Punia was as usual at her best as the goalkeeper. But big credit should go to Deepika who ended up scoring three goals. She made massive improvements to her dragflicking skills as well as with her field goals. The goal she scored in the second match against the Netherlands was one of the best field goals in the tournament. Harendra spoke about maintaining calm in the circle and the goal was the best example of it.
What's next for India teams?
Both Indian teams will now play their remaining Pro League matches in the month of June. There are talks ongoing for both teams to play bilateral series before those Pro League games as well.