Last weekend Lalremsiami scored a brilliant goal as the Indian women’s hockey team beat world No. 2 Argentina via shootouts in the first match of their double header in the FIH Pro League. With her back against the goal and a defender guarding her, the Mizo striker got an immaculate touch to Deep Grace Ekka’s long pass from the left of the field and put India in the lead.
While Siami will look to score more such goals during the upcoming World Cup to be played in Spain and the Netherlands from July 1-17, the Indian team will also be hoping that she continues her good show as a first rusher while defending penalty corners during the tournament.
Being a first rusher is one of the toughest jobs on the hockey field where the players have to run full throttle at the line of the ball which is hit at speeds exceeding 100 kmph at times during penalty corners. It is risky and players do get hurt at times.
But Siami has been doing it quite well for a while now, without any fear.
Asked what made her take up the role, the player from Mizoram said, “One day before the Olympic qualifiers during a training session in Bengaluru, I wanted to see how it feels to be a first rusher. So, I tried it and quite liked it and have been doing it since then.”
However, it’s not only about blindly running towards the ball, a lot of planning goes into defending it.
“Every team has very good PC routines, so we must prepare accordingly. All the PC defenders hold extensive meetings with the coach, and everything is planned beforehand,” said Siami during an interaction with TOI from the Netherlands.
“We analyse who will be the PC taker, who will be trapping the ball and who will be the pusher from the opponent team. Depending on all the minute details we decide on how we will be running and defending it.”
Despite all the planning, it all comes down to the players on the field at that moment and this is where captain and goalkeeper Savita comes in.
“Savita didi is always very calm and she is very helpful on the field. At times, even if I forget who will be taking the PC, she reminds me the jersey number of the player and guides me in which direction I would have to go,” added Siami.
Keeping PC defence aside, she will be partnering Vandana Katariya, Navneet Kaur and Sharmila Devi in attack and she is quite confident of putting on a good show during the quadrennial event.
Asked what goes through one’s mind when going forward, she said, “We focus on our positioning inside the D and stay aware of where the defenders are. We also stay vigilant about where the other strikers are and keep communicating with them. Finally, we look for the areas from where we can earn the PCs and go for the goals.”
While this will be her first World Cup, the 22-year-old has already achieved a lot since 2017 when she first made it to the Indian national team. Doing so, she has inspired many from her football-mad state to take up the game, but the lack of facilities has made it challenging for the kids.
“The biggest problem in Mizoram is that there’s not enough hockey grounds. I try to help them in every way possible but only when the facilities are present more hockey players from the state will be able to play for the country,” she added.
Even if they aren’t able to play at the moment, it’s certain that they will be glued to their screens when India open their campaign against England in the World Cup on July 3.
