NEW DELHI, June 9 -- Harendra Singh's effect is clear every time the Indian women's hockey team steps on to the pitch now. The Salima Tete-led outfit is aggressive, with spurts of counterattacks down the flanks. The tactics resemble that of the Australia team. But that should come as no surprise considering that the India chief coach idolises Aussie great Ric Charlesworth's methods. It has been a year since Harendra took over the team, after the low of the Indian women failing to qualify for the Paris Olympics, having promised a resurgence at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics by finishing fourth. A youthful team is now slowly coming together as a unit ahead of bigger tests. "We are a very good team, you can see that from the outside. This is a team which wants to look aggressive," Harendra told HT. "But if you start giving respect to the opponent, when you play half-court, when you give them time to play, then our team is a bit vulnerable. We have to learn match management." Soon after take over, Harendra took the team to Europe midway through the Pro League season last year. India lost all eight matches in Antwerp and London in May-June 2024, which showed the enormity of the task he faced. The 55-year-old helped the team take its first steps of revival last November when India went undefeated while winning the Asian Champions Trophy. In the 2024-25 Pro League so far, out of the eight games, India have won three and lost five. On a recent tour of Australia, India lost both games to Australia A and the senior Aussie side beat them 2-1 in the series that followed. "The start was bad, but the development was good. I tried 3-4 new players because before the (2026) World Cup, everyone should play at least 25-35 matches. So, these matches were an opportunity for the new players. I wasn't worried about the first two matches because we were trying different combinations. But we should have won the last two matches. It was a good learning curve," said Harendra. The coach wants to encourage his players to take more initiative to get more effective in carrying out tactics. "If the opponent puts you under pressure, the opportunity comes if you break the line, then it is easy to go for the counter. But the threat is that if you lose the ball, the opponent is close to your D, so you might concede shots on goal, penalty corners or a goal," he said. But India have improved in counterattacks and in their overall pace of play, they still lag behind in finishing, which was noticed during the India leg of the Pro League as well as the Australia tour. "Yes, but that is also because a few new girls who were on their first tour also went directly to the scoring zone. It is all about handling nerves, positioning, first touch, and most importantly experience. In the D, you have to take split-second decisions. It is an area we are working on." At the same, it is also about players not delaying the shot once in the D. "We are now aiming that even if there's a half chance, let's hit the ball rather than wait and pass. In Australia, we were too generous, passing the ball rather than hitting it. We could have scored four goals (in last two games) if we'd simply taken our shots." The upcoming Pro League leg will be crucial. India can qualify for next year's World Cup through this nine-team event. With Belgium and Netherlands having qualified as hosts and Germany as champions of the 2023-24 Pro League, the next best team in the league will qualify instead of waiting to make it from the Asia Cup in September. "We are trying some combinations, with and without the ball. We're focusing on pressing and attacking positions which we tried in Australia. It's working. Now, we have 2-3 variations which we will use in the Pro League." India women next play Australia in the Pro League in London on June 14 and 15....