When the Indian men left for a seven-test tour of Canada early on Saturday, it was the first time two women were responsible for the team composition. Madhu Yadav, member of the gold-medal winning Indian team at the 1982 Asian Games and Sita Mehta, who was instrumental in India winning gold at the 2002 Commonwealth Games, have impressive credentials but watching and selecting the men’s squad was not an easy job for the two.

“The way the boys played was a new experience. It was difficult initially because what we saw in Pune was not something we are used to seeing in Indian hockey. But the kind of support we got was amazing,” said Yadav, who has also been a government observer for the women’s team.

Mehta said being a selector itself was a great experience. “I am the youngest in the selection committee and selecting the men’s team was my first brush with hockey from the other side. I have always been a player before — and the only thing I was concerned about was to make sure that I didn’t make any mistake,” she said.

It is for the first time in Indian hockey that a composite selection committee has been formed for both men’s and women’s teams. Hockey India had announced the new selection committee a fortnight ago to replace the ad-hoc committee.

It is also a first for both Mehta and Yadav. “As an international umpire, we get to interact with both men’s and women’s officials from around the world, and that came in handy. Also, it was far easier selecting the women's team because we know the players and what exactly is needed at the world level. With the men’s team, we felt the standards were far higher than the women,” Yadav said.

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