After former Indian captains Rani Rampal and Sardar Singh were named as the coach of the U-17 Indian hockey team, Rani clarified that she is not yet over with her playing career and is 'not retiring' as of now.
The 28-year-old expressed her diappointment towards coach Janneke Schopmann and the selectors for not including her in the core group for the women's team and told that she is yet to receive an explanation for her exclusion from the same.
Asked if taking up the coaching role meant she was retiring, Rani said: “I am not retiring since I know I still have more to give to the sport as a player. I have this thing in me to not give up. If I had to, I’d have given up after the Olympics. I accepted this since is a short term programme that could be converted into a long-term project. Initially, it’s a 45-day camp.”
“Whatever happened with me in the last two years wasn’t right. I came back from an injury, was the top scorer at the National Games but wasn’t picked. The best person who can answer this is the Chief Coach or the selectors because I don’t know the answer,” she added.