Bhubaneswar, February 12 (HS): England’s men’s hockey team reached Bhubaneswar, Odisha on Wednesday for the matches to be held in India in the FIH Hockey Pro League 2024-25. The England team will take on Spain in their first match in Bhubaneswar. The team has performed impressively in the FIH Hockey Pro League so far and is second in the points table. They have earned 11 points in four matches, with three wins and a draw.

On reaching Bhubaneswar, England team captain Tim Nurse said that I am very excited to play in India for the first time. My teammates have shared their incredible experiences of the 2023 World Cup here and I am looking forward to experiencing that atmosphere myself. Hopefully the stadium will be packed when we take on India. We have come here to win and aim to ensure victory in all four matches of this stage. Facing India on home ground will be a tough challenge. We have had some tough battles with them over the years and I expect even closer matches this time.

England interim head coach Jack Jones shared his thoughts on reaching Bhubaneswar and said that I was fortunate to be here for the 2022 Pro League and the 2023 World Cup. The atmosphere here is incredible, the crowd (spectator) is fantastic and I enjoy the unique culture. The hospitality is always top notch. However we will need to adjust to the heat. Fortunately, many of our players have spent a lot of time playing in the Hero Hockey India League recently, so they are already familiar with these conditions.

On facing the Indian hockey team, Jones said that we are excited for this challenge. There have been some great matches between the two teams in the last 2-3 years. We are looking forward to facing them and hope that we will execute our game plan and come out on top.

Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar