Young players need to work on management of time and game: Coach Harendra

New Delhi: India’s under-fire chief coach Harendra Singh on Wednesday blamed the absence of senior players for the women’s hockey team’s horrendous performance at the FIH Pro League and said the young players need to get better at decision-making to develop into world beaters.

The Indian team was relegated to the FIH Nations’ Cup after losing seven of the eight games in the European leg of the Pro League, as it finished at the bottom.

“It’s a new team. Several experienced players were missing due to injuries, defence in particular. What we need to work on is time management and game management,” Harendra said during a virtual interaction.

“There is no excuse on that part.” Harendra said the Indians also need to work on their penalty corner defending.

“PC (penalty corner) defending is an area which we need to work more. We didn’t have experienced players like Udita and Nikki Pradhan in defence in the European leg. We need to work on our defence.”