TOUR TO ARGENTINA

India juniors ready to play rough

New Delhi: When in Rome, do as the Romans do. The Indians would be following the same maxim in Argentina where the junior hockey team is scheduled to play a four-match series against the hosts in the next few days. The Indians will leave for Buenos Aires on Thursday and play ‘test’ matches on December 8, 9, 11 and 12 besides a one-off ‘test’ against the Netherlands colts on December 13.

Argentina, the reigning junior world champions, are known for their rough play and India will play in the same manner to unnerve them. “We are not teaching our boys to defend themselves when faced with the body play of Argentina. Rather, we have told them to watch their rivals and do exactly the same. The team will be playing a rough and tough game,” chief coach AK Bansal told ToI on Tuesday.

Bansal said the move is to keep the team prepared for next year’s World Cup where Argentina would be starting as favourites. “This is for the first time that a bilateral series is being played between the two sides. I am sure the Indian players will benefit hugely from the tour.”

The Indian team will comprise of five new faces, though the rest of the team has not played any international event since the junior Asia Cup triumph in July earlier this year. A trip to Pakistan was also cancelled at the last minute a few days back back. “But the players had a good outing in the Nehru Cup which they won. We had seven good matches and it was good to see the forwards accounting for 15 of the 24 goals scored by the team,” said an optimistic Bansal.