Salima thriving on hype of fans & freedom on pitch

RAJGIR: The moment you reach the hockey stadium at the newly-built Rajgir Sports Complex, an artwork on the building wall adjacent to the hockey pitch will invariably catch your attention. It's a huge mural of Salima Tete, in her full glory running with the ball and eyes focused on what to do next.

It's unlikely that you would find such a huge painting of a woman hockey player anywhere else in the country, and it has left the newly-appointed captain of the Indian women's hockey team in complete awe. More importantly, it's a source of huge confidence for Salima.

"This picture is a huge motivation in itself. It brings out something special from within that helps me play better and with more freedom," said Salima after India's win over Japan in the 2024 Women's Asian Champions Trophy here on Sunday.

So far, she has been quite remarkable throughout the tournament making her usual runs down the field, creating chances and scoring goals. She has also been vocal and constantly communicating with the players around her. But what has been most impressive about her is that she has been even running back and defending whenever there's the need and she did it brilliantly during the group game against Japan.

According to Salima, it's all part of coach Harendra Singh's plan where every player can play in any position they want.

"The coach has given a lot of freedom to the players. Earlier, we used to stick to our positions and play in certain areas. But now we can play anywhere we want and each of us knows what to do in those areas. So, Sharmila knows what to do at the centre, and I know how to play in the back and when to go there. Nobody has any positions now, everybody is striker, defender and midfielder," added the captain.

This new approach has worked well and one hopes the team will be able to continue in the same vein in the knockouts. It's after all Salima's first proper tournament as a captain and she obviously wants to finish on a high in front of the home fans.

"It's important to do well here so that we get the confidence to perform better against the other top teams of the world in the coming days," said Salima.

And one aspect which might help them achieve the feat is their improved mental strength. It's one area that Harendra focused on after taking over in May and consequently made them go through an intensive training session at the Indian Naval Academy in Kannur in July.

"The mentality has surely changed. Like in the match against Japan, we missed some chances in the first two quarters but we were confident that we would get the goals eventually and kept going for it. And finally, we did. Also, after scoring a goal, we are always on the lookout for the next goal now and we have been quite successful because of that," added Salima.

They have definitely been able to do that so far and hopefully, will be able to carry it forward into Tuesday when they will face Japan again, in the semifinals.


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