It’s the start of a new journey for the Indian women’s hockey team and leading them on it will be a new captain: Salima Tete. Having missed out on qualification to the Paris Olympics, Tete and the team, under new coach Harendra Singh, will aim to bury the ghosts of the past and start on a fresh note with LA 2028 the aim.
Salima is an interesting choice to steer the ship — the midfielder is just 22 but has played over 100 international matches and has been a senior team regular for the last five years. While on the field she had all the qualities of a world class player, her own admission was that she was a bit timid off the field and often struggled to find her voice. When Harendra wanted a new captain, he picked Salima, but before that, he also wanted her to find her voice.
“I never used to talk much. I didn’t have a voice. I used to talk but only when it’s needed. Sir gave me the feedback that I have to talk. I have to use my voice if I want to lead the team,” Salima told ESPN from Rajgir, Bihar, where the team will try to defend their Asian Champions Trophy title.
“He told me that I play really well but he wanted me to talk and have a voice of a leader and that’s how the team will also take me as an example. He told me to show my leadership qualities,” she says.
But why the change? After all, Salima’s predecessor Savita Punia is still very much part of the new setup under Harendra — a default choice since she is still among the best goalkeepers in the world. However, Harendra wanted a captain who mirrors his philosophy, all-out, high-intensity, direct style of hockey.
Salima had captained the Indian team in the European leg of the Pro League earlier this year, where the team played under the gloom of Olympic qualification failure. But the upcoming Asian Champions Trophy (November 11-20) is the first tournament for India in this new Olympic cycle. And now, Salima is ready to become the new leader.
“Gradually, my confidence grew. I took help from Savita (Punia) also and others. They also told me that I need to talk more. Abhi toh jyada bolne lagi (now I talk more),” she says with a laugh.
Power, strength and speed are what defines Salima as a player. Her explosive speed and ability to carry the ball made her one of the most dangerous players on flanks, and now she’s been moved into the middle. Harendra and his new captain are both on the same page. For them, physical fitness is paramount.
“There’s no compromise on fitness. Fitness is a general word, but I emphasise on high-speed fitness. We’re looking at more agile and speedy players,” Harendra had earlier told ESPN.
Salima echoes her coach. “We don’t compromise on our fitness. Fitness will help you win a game but also lose it if you don’t work on it. It was an issue in the past. We worked a lot on improving our fitness. Fitness wise, we were not at our best during the Olympic Qualifiers.
“Dimag bhi chahiye aur bhagna bhi padega (we need the brain and the brawn). We need both in hockey.”
Salima has an almost obsessive commitment to her fitness. She never misses her runs and gym time even while away from the game on break. “When I go to my village (in Jharkhand), I go running every morning with my father. If I miss my running even for a single day, I will feel the day has been wasted. Even if I miss gym, I will feel I’ve wasted the day. Even on off days, I start running by 5 am. I don’t feel good if I don’t hit the ground.”
This philosophy is reflected in the new core Harendra’s building for the team: With Salima, there’s Udita, Sharmila Devi, Manisha Chauhan, Sunelita Toppo, Navneet Kaur, Sangita Kumari and Beauty Dungdung, all of whom are high-intensity hard runners.
The most important thing, according to Salima, is that the head coach has given them the freedom to play to these strengths. “He told me not to contain my speed. He told all the players who possess speed to ensure they run hard. He gave us freedom on the pitch. With Indian coaches, we get the freedom on the pitch. He told all of us to use our speed. There are no restrictions. And then he told me that I need to work on my defence, that I need to fall back and defend when the team needs me to,” Salima says.
“We have the freedom now. The strikers can fall back and become a link to the midfield. I will play centrally, and my role is to be a feeder, but I am not restricted. Sir gave us the freedom to interchange our positions and play from all sides. This is a good thing, as players we should know how to play in many positions.”
Another important aspect that Harendra wanted to improve is decision-making. “Modern hockey is all about decision making. If you see the kind of sprints the players are doing now, the back-and-forth nature, hockey has become like basketball. Or tennis. When you’re playing high-speed velocity matches, decision making also becomes quicker,” Harendra says.
In the past, Indian players had struggled to convert their chances. Despite all the good work in the build-up, the team struggled with their final passes and shots. It was one the major issues under previous head coach Janneke Schopman. Salima also recognised that they were rushing things a bit when it was important to keep calm.
“Sometimes we take too much pressure on the shot. We talk about this among ourselves, it’s OK to take a breather and calm yourself before the shot. In the final third, it’s important to keep calm. We have worked on this in our training sessions and hopefully it shows during the matches,” Salima says.
The conversation eventually circles back to the Paris Olympics and there’s sadness in her voice that’s impossible not to notice. There are moments where she blames herself, but she is determined to move on after learning a few lessons. Chief among them is to focus on the present and not to dwell too much on the past and the future.
“I feel sad even now. We have worked so hard. Janneke (Schopman) helped us a lot but maybe God has something else planned for us. I blame myself, maybe I couldn’t help the team to qualify. Maybe I could’ve done things differently. But I also realised there’s no point thinking about it now. Do not think about the past or the future but only about the present. Everybody is sad that we couldn’t qualify but it’s important to learn the lessons.”
With renewed optimism and playing for a coach who has given her the freedom on and off the pitch, Salima is starting the most important period of her career. She’s ready to define her legacy.