Defence will be key against Australia, says India vice captain Savita

The Indian hockey women's team will be on their way to Japan in the coming weeks as they gear up for a tough challenge that awaits them on foreign shores. India, who are currently ranked 10th in the International Hockey Federation rankings, will face-off against three-time Olympic champions Australia, China (11th) and hosts Japan (14th) in the Test event which is being held in preparation for next year's Olympic Games in Tokyo itself. 

India's vice-captain and first-choice goalkeeper - Savita - reckons that the Indian team will depend on their defence when they go up against the mighty Australians. 

“We will be playing a very strong team in Australia against whom we played well in last year’s Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast. It was a tough defeat to take as we lost by a solitary goal, and it was also the semi-final of the tournament. However, we were proud of our performance. 

“To match Australia in all departments was great, But this time, we need to make sure that we defend well as a unit and not give them any easy chances. I feel defence will be key in determining who wins the upcoming tournament in Tokyo,” Savita was quoted as saying by Scroll.in.

Savita, who has played 193 international matches for India, further added that she is confident that the Indian team can match the top teams in the world after impressive displays against strong opponents in the last two years. 

“In the past couple of years we have had the chance to play in huge matches, but there have been times when we have lacked a bit. However, I think the team has improved tremendously and we can now match the likes of world No 2 Australia. 

“But we need to focus on winning the big matches and we showed that we are capable of doing it when we won the final of the FIH Women’s Series Finals against Japan in front of their home crowd,” Savita added.