Chak de Haryana: Ritu Rani to lead Indian women hockey team

Chandigarh: Haryana girl Ritu Rani will captain Indian women's team in upcoming FIH Hockey World League. The tournament will be played at Rotterdam, the Netherlands, from June 13-23. Ritu Rani hails from Shahbad which has produced many good players. She has struggled very hard to reach this position in her career.

Ritu believes that the team should play as a unit to deliver best results. She is fully aware that competition for the Indian squad is tough. She takes encouragement from the fact that India won the second round of the world league in Delhi and she resolves to continue the winning spree. Indian team is young as many junior players have found a place in the squad. Though experience can cause a little hindrance, but the players are waiting to prove themselves and ready to take on the challenge, says the midfielder. She is very religious and owes her success to the almighty.

She is hard-working, humble and never lets success get to her head. This is precisely what tilted the scales in her favour when it came to selecting captain for the squad.

The Indian team qualified for the competition in February this year by winning the world league round 2 tournament in Delhi. The FIH World League is also a qualifying tournament for the 2014 Women's World Cup.