I quit as team management did not have any expectation from me, but I'm open for return: Katariya

New Delhi, Dec 27 (PTI) Former India women's hockey striker Vandana Katariya on Friday said she decided to quit the game earlier this year after feeling neglected, but she is ready to reverse her decision if the team management wants.

The 33-year-old two-time Olympian announced her retirement from international hockey in April this year, bringing down the curtains on her distinguished career spanning 15 years.

Katariya retired as India's most-capped women's hockey player. She scored 158 goals in 320 international matches after making her debut for India in 2009.

She also said that she was pained by the frequent dropping from the playing side.

"When I felt that they (team management) don't have any expectation from me that was the trigger and it was putting mental pressure on me. I was fit and capable but I was suffering as well so I thought it's the end," Katariya told PTI in an exclusive interview.

"My morale was down, we do practice with confidence but don't get returns sometimes. I don't say the young players who are coming are not good, they are superb. They are well aware about the routine, but it somewhere pains me to play a match and then sit outside for next two matches.

"If a player is deliberately put under pressure and broken, that was the end point for me. It (retirement) was going on in my mind for long, I was little mentally down as well." Katariya, who will be captaining the Shrachi Bengal Tigers in the women's Hockey India League starting on Sunday, said she is still fit and open to return to the national fold if the team management wants.

"I know I can still play. I still respect hockey and as a player if I am needed I am still there. I have become very strong now. Coaches come and go but it was difficult to leave the team with which I had spent majority of my life," she said.

"Since retirement I have followed the same routine, and I don't think I am away from the women's national team. For me it's just to play the game, play easy. I just want to follow the same schedule and play as I used to before retiring. "I am always ready to give back to the game in any form because hockey has given me a lot. Even as a player I am still ready if needed to help in any way. I am still fit as earlier and give my 100 per cent.

"When I retired and came back I felt everything was going good but what is important is to remain on the same page. It pains to see that this team can achieve so much but when I was there everything was fine," she said.

Katariya credits her late father for shaping her career and said she had faced many ups and downs in her life.

"My journey has been up and down, life of most of hockey players have been like that but probably mine was little bit a lot. Papa supportde me a lot but he left during COVID. He was my rock," she said.

Her immediate goal now is to win title in the upcoming women's HIL with Shrachi Bengal Tigers.

"It's an opportunity for me to lead the side but there won't be any pressure I feel. Need to take the team along, set an example and play as a team. Everyone in the team knows their responsibilities. As a team our expectation is to win the tournament," she said.

"We have got a very strong squad, it's a mixed team with young and senior players. Everyone in their level is at their best. But going into the tournament we have to keep a winning mindset." PTI SSC SSC PDS PDS