India’s new vice-captain Chinglensana Singh said he is ready to shoulder the responsibility with skipper PR Sreejesh at the Hockey World League Semifinal next month.
“This is an important tour for us in our preparations for the World League Final in December and I am very excited to be entrusted with this new responsibility,” Chinglensana told PTI on the sidelines of the ongoing national camp at the Sports Authority of India, Bengaluru.
As a midfielder, Chinglensana is fast with the ability to set off aggressively inside the opponent’s half creating a chance for the Indians to breakout. He is often entrusted with the role of a stopper too when Harmanpreet Singh or Rupinder Pal Singh attempt a dragflick to convert penalty corner.
“It’s these abilities on the field to adapt to any situation and his great spirit and energy were the qualities that made our decision easy to name him as vice-captain of the team,” explained chief coach Roelant Oltmans.
With the pressure on forwards to improve their field goal conversion rate from 20% at the recently concluded 26th Sultan Azlan Shah Cup, Chinglensana’s role in the centre-half along with Sardar Singh, Manpreet Singh, SK Uthappa, Satbir Singh and Harjeet Singh becomes all the more crucial for the team.
But it helps that Chinglensana exhibits an attitude that revolves around a team-first approach. “Whether you are the vice-captain, captain or a senior player in the team, it is important for us to guide youngsters in matches. Rectifying the mistakes we made in Malaysia was the main goal of this camp. I am sure if we don’t repeat these mistakes we will bring good results in both Germany and London.”
While India plays two matches each against Germany and Belgium in Dusseldorf at the 3 Nations Invitational Tournament starting June 1, they are grouped with Canada, Scotland, Netherlands and Pakistan in the World League Semifinal starting June 15.