Bengaluru, Experienced Indian forward Vandana Katariya has said that the team is focussing on maintaining their fitness levels so that they can be sharper than their opponents when they return on the hockey field once the nationwide lockdown ends and situation improves amid the COVID-19 crisis.

"Obviously the main thing for all of us is always to play hockey on the field, but this time has given us the chance to focus on other key factors which make a team so successful," said Vandana.

"We haven't been able to be on the pitch, but our minds are always on the pitch. We are trying to maintain our fitness levels as best as we can, so that when we are back, we are sharper than our opponents," added the 28-year-old.

Vandana, who has over 240 international caps for India, further revealed that another aspect which has been talked about during the ongoing lockdown period is how the team is able to analyse different teams from around the world.

"We are watching various footage and with the help of our coaching staff, we are able to gain a lot from that."

Placing emphasis on the importance of maintaining positivity in their thoughts during the lockdown in place due to COVID-19 pandemic, the experienced forward said, "Our chief coach Sjoerd Marijne has been very vocal about having mindfulness, and that has also made us realize a lot of things."

"We feel we are at a stature where we can end up helping other people too which we did through our crowdfunding initiative, and we are of course also lucky to have such great facilities at our disposal.

"We understand that not many people are blessed with this, and therefore it is a chance for us to make full use of what we have," she added.

The Indian eves recently raised over Rs 20 lakh which is being contributed to feed more than 1000 families affected due to the nationwide lockdown to fight COVID-19 pandemic.

"It was amazing to see the response that we got for the crowdfunding initiative, and we are all very delighted to have been able to provide over 1000 underprivileged families with meals. We are hopeful that the situation improves soon," Vandana said.