Sjoerd Marijne, head coach of the Indian women’s team,  had this to say on the official website of the Tokyo Olympic Games.

“For us, she (Rani Rampal) is of course not a celebrity but with Rani doing well, we have a mission with the team for all of us to put women in a better position in India. This helps her to go for that goal because if we do well, we get a lot of exposure.”

Obviously her high-profile stature and that of being the face of women’s hockey in contemporary India, he was quoted as saying on the site: “Rani is an example as a leader and leads by example”.

The most important part of his statement which he made a couple of days ahead of the Tokyo hockey opener, given below, is an eye-opener.

“But for Rani it is also important for her to now focus on herself. She is experienced, she’s helping players around her and that makes my work a little bit easier.”

Every word uttered before the start of the tournament by the chief coach echoes in one’s mind.  His reasons for saying the above is beside the point. What’s important now is that it is now on the broad shoulders of Rani Rampal to lift Indian women’s hockey’s profile at these Games in Tokyo, and effectively, in India too.

Women team at Delhi Airport

She is the senior-most in the team which looks up to her. More so at this juncture.

After two decent performances, Rani’s team produced pedestrian hockey against Great Britain on Wednesday. It led Marijne to say he’s most disappointed.

True, Great Britain, are the reigning Olympic gold medallists but has had a reasonable equation with them – both historically and in recent times.

The team did not perform in every department of the game. It was a sudden dip in performance, even below the benchmark the team has set itself in the last four-and-a-half years.

But why did it happen?

Rani has to now primarily improve her own performance and set an example for others to follow. Secondly, she should guide the players to play to their potential.

Like the men had their “Australian Day”, the women experienced something similar. The men have bounced back with a win over Spain in which they maintained a clean slate and are poised for a quarterfinal place having notched two wins from three matches.

The women have yet to open their account and must win both their remaining two encounters to have any chance to make the last eight.

Rani’s leadership here will be crucial as ever to achieve this relatively modest target.

However, it’s not going to be easy to meet the challenge of Ireland and South Africa who lie in wait.

Unless Rani plays her role, motivates the team, and equally importantly lifts her game, the prospects appear bleak.