Ranchi Rays, the franchise that replaced ‘Ranchi Rhinos’ of Hockey India league's (HIl) last edition will be extending its helping hands to local talents. The team considered as Jharkhand’s “home” team also has several other plans in the store. Head Coach of the team Harendra Singh, who is also the coach of Junior Indian Men’s team, shared his views with an exclusive interview with The Pioneer. Excerpts from the interview:
Your entry is new in HIl. How do you feelIJ
It is an honour to coach the ‘Ranchi Rays’ team. They give their best on pitch. Moreover, they were Champion of HIl 1 and reached semi-final at HIl 2 but were defeated at shoot-out. Interestingly, they are lucky for me as I received FIH High Performance Coach Accreditation on January 13. Presently, I am the only Indian Coach to get this designation. I can now I coach the coaches of any nation.
Indian Cricket Team skipper MS Dhoni is the co-owner of ‘Ranchi Rays’. How will the Ranchi based cricketer’s association benefits your playersIJ
Together as franchise owners, MS Dhoni and Sahara Pariwar have picked the best talents. It is good that the 18 odd players are retained out of the 24 players. All of them maintain a good bonding. We are blessed to have such a team else it is difficult to create coordination just few days before.
Jharkhand has been a hotbed of Hockey talents. How will ‘Ranchi Rays’ contribute in developing the national game hereIJ
The matches at city’s Astro-Turf Hockey Stadium will commence from January 26. So, we have decided to organise training sessions for Under-14 and Under-18 hockey players of schools and sports institutes at the stadium on January 29 and 30. Our star players like Ashley Jackson (captain), Austin Smith and Mandeep Singh will train the youngsters. Also, our franchise might tie up with an NGO wherein underprivileged children will be invited for learning hockey.
What about the recent video-shootings of the teamIJ
The video recording of January 16 will focus about the game strategy. Players will know their role in the matches like defending and penalty corner.
No Jharkhand player can find a place in the team despite the State known for its hockey. WhyIJ
Everything is unpredicted in sports. This time there is no Jharkhand player in ‘Ranchi Rays’ but in the next HIls Jharkhand players may come in the probable list. like, in ‘Kalinga lancers’ there is a player from Jharkhand. However, he is representing Odisha, the home State of the team.
Who is a main competitor of ‘Ranchi Rays’IJ
All the six franchise teams are equally strong. The ‘Dabang Mumbai’ and ‘Kalinga lancers’ which were weak in last HIl have a strong team now. As I said, everything is unpredictable in sports.