Hockey India had earlier cancelled a four-nation tourney in January and had announced that the team will take on France in a three-Test series.
The Indian hockey team won’t play any Test matches in the run up to the World Cup. Instead, they will warm up with a couple of ties against the Netherlands and Argentina in the week preceding the quadrennial showpiece in New Delhi.
This means that the only time chief coach Jose Brasa can test his combinations will be one week before the World Cup, which may prove to be difficult for him.
Hockey India had earlier cancelled a four-nation tourney in January and had announced that the team will take on France in a three-Test series.
But HI advisor Anupam Ghulati said playing France is meaningless since they have failed to qualify for the World Cup.
“There is no point playing them. The team will assemble in New Delhi in February. We have arranged matches against the Netherlands and Argentina...Those will be played in the week prior to the World Cup,” Ghulati told DNA.
However, the shortage of competitive matches ahead of the big event may affect India’s performance. The 22 probables for the February 28-March 13 event have been playing among themselves in Pune. The last competitive tournament India played was the Champions Challenge in December.
“Practice matches are very important going into any tournament. I don’t know why there hasn’t been any arrangement from Hockey India. That’s the time when we can try various combinations,” said a team staffer.
Most of the teams playing the World Cup are playing or are slated to play friendly Test series. Pakistan are scheduled to play the Netherlands, Australia will play against South Korea while England are slated to face Spain.
The Indian hockey team, meanwhile, are playing a friendly game against the National Defence Academy (NDA) side in Pune.
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