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I believe in karma, I’m still keen to play for India: Rani Rampal
Updated On: 20 August, 2023 08:59 PM IST | Mumbai | Ashwin Ferro
Despite being left out of Asian Games probables, former India hockey captain and star striker Rani Rampal, who is currently coaching sub-junior national team in Rourkela, still harbours dreams of playing for the country
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Former India hockey captain Rani Rampal (left) trains a young player during a camp for strikers in Bhubaneswar recently
Normally, for most professional sportspersons, the coach’s role comes around post retirement. But in the case of former India hockey captain and Olympian Rani Rampal, 28, it has come early. She stresses she’s still an active player and harbours hopes of making a comeback to the national team sooner rather than later. In the recent past however, the mercurial striker has inexplicably been left out of the Indian team and that trend continued recently when the list of Asian Games probables was announced without her name in it.
Rampal is understandably disappointed, but she does not want her disappointment to rub off on the youngsters she is coaching. Rampal recently conducted a five-day camp for young female strikers jointly organised by Odisha’s Sports and Youth Services Department and the Naval Tata Hockey High Performance Centre at the Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneswar. After that she headed to Rourkela, where she is currently holding a sub junior national camp. “I accepted this coaching role because I felt that just because I`m being denied the opportunity to play for my country, I don’t have the right to deny these young girls a chance to hone their skills as they dream of playing for India one day,” Rampal, who led the country to its best ever finish at the Olympics—fourth place at Tokyo in 2021 —told mid-day from Bhubaneswar.
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