Relishing the challenge of playing India on their home turf: England hockey captain

Bhubaneswar, March 30 (IANS) The England men's hockey team is relishing the prospect of playing India in India and sharpen their skills for the FIH World Cup next year.

The England team, captained by Tom Sorsby, which arrived here on Tuesday night, will play the FIH Pro League double-header against the hosts at the Kalinga Stadium on April 2 and 3.

"India have been playing really well, they have got some great results. We know they are going to be a tough team to play against, but it's a challenge that we are really looking forward to taking on. It's not often that you get to come out to play in India against the home team, so just looking forward to the challenge they are going to give us," Sorsby said.

Speaking about the team's preparations, Sorsby added, "We are quite a new team, so not necessarily in preparations for India, but this group has got some good experience in the Pro League recently. And, I think all the experience we get here will be valuable, especially between now and coming back here for the World Cup."

England head coach Zak Jones said he would bank upon the experience of some of the players who have played in India before to help the side in the upcoming matches and also assist the youngsters.

"We are really excited and looking forward to playing at the Kalinga Hockey Stadium. Few of the guys have played here before and they know a bit of challenge because India are a good side at the moment. I think we have got a lot of guys who haven't been here before, so yeah really excited to come out here and play at this stadium, and also get ready for the 2023 World Cup," said Jones.

With two wins and two losses in four matches, England are currently seventh on the FIH Pro League 2021/22 points table. They started their Pro League campaign with wins against Spain, but lost both their matches against Argentina last month.

Reflecting on the team's Pro League performance so far, Jones said, "I think we have performed really well so far. We are sort of building game-to-game, and it's really important that we take that momentum and look to get as many results as possible in the Pro League."