Work in progress at hockey camp

Workers busy applying finishing touches at the National Stadium must have thanked their helmets as stray hits off the drag flickers’ sticks flew thick and fast into the stands after the Indian team, aiming to apply final brushstrokes to their World Cup preparations, started training here on Tuesday.

And while the thud of the ball wasn’t a pronounced sound amid the construction din, it announced the arrival of hockey to the Capital after two-and-a-half years due to renovation of various stadiums for the 2010 Commonwealth Games. As nozzles sprayed water at the ground, goalkeeper Adrian D’ Souza put on his practice gear and walked in gingerly, seemingly unmindful of the fact that he was the first member of the Indian squad to step onto the newly laid turf here.

Soon the rest of the squad hit the ground running — literally — to kick off the practice session. For the first 30 minutes, the players jogged and warmed up, before honing their short-corner skills. With head coach Jose Brasa observing closely and Sardara Singh and Arjun Halappa feeding them, Sandeep Singh, Diwakar Ram and Dhananjay Mahadik took turns at drag-flicking while Shreejesh manned the goalpost.

A similar drill was underway at the other end, with coach Harendra Singh monitoring proceedings. After the penalty corner drill, the players were divided into two teams for a short practice match to round off Day One.

“It was a low intensity training today,” Harendra told The Indian Express.

“It will continue for a few more days, after which we’ll begin the full-fledged training, including working out at the gym. Today’s session was more about getting the feel of the conditions. The light warm-up — running, stretching and yoga — and penalty corner drills familiarised the players with the conditions,” the coach added.

The players were thrilled at their first brush with the renovated stadium. “It’s been well over three years since I had played at the National Stadium. Naturally, I was looking forward to it,” said skipper Rajpal Singh.

“And I wasn’t disappointed from what I saw. We got a closer look at the turf during our practice drills. It’s just about perfect — there are no bumps and it’s neither too fast nor slow. I hope we’ll benefit from it,” he added.

On Thursday, the team will practice under flood lights.

Media barred

Meanwhile, the authorities at the National Stadium have decided to keep the press away from the camp at the World Cup venue, citing security as reason. “Due to security and strategic reasons, the decision has been taken at the highest level not to allow media in training sessions. The restriction will not just be for the Indian team but for every visiting side for the World Cup,” said Sports Authority of India joint secretary Pravir Krishn.

“A few journalists managed to get in but they were asked to leave later on,” he added.