Bengaluru, July 18: The PR Sreejesh-led team believes India moving up to No.5 in the latest FIH rankings is a big boost ahead of the 2018 Asian Games to be held in Indonesian cities of Jakarta and Palembang from August 18 to September 2 and the World Cup to be held at home in Bhubaneswar from November 28 to December 16.

Following their runners-up finish at the recent Champions Trophy 2018 in Breda, the Netherlands, India moved up one position up in the latest FIH rankings released on Tuesday (July 17).

World champions Australia (1906 points) are still on top, a clear 23 points ahead of Olympic champions Argentina (1883).

Belgium (1709) are third followed by the Netherlands (1654).

@Kookaburras stay top of FIH Hero World Rankings, @TheHockeyIndia climb up to fifth ... full story here: https://t.co/EN31JpcPjM pic.twitter.com/YIuw72C1QR

— FIH (@FIH_Hockey) July 17, 2018

"We're really happy and elated to see ourselves jump one step ahead in the FIH world rankings. The higher we go there's a lot more responsibility on our shoulders to do well and come up with consistent performances. The elevation in world ranking gives us a big boost to do well in the Asian Games in Indonesia as well as the World Cup, where we want to finish on the podium in front of our home crowd," said Sreejesh, on the sidelines of the ongoing national camp at the Sports Authority of India's southern centre at Kengeri, in the outskirts of the city.

The ace goalkeeper further added that the team needs to work hard to achieve their desirable goal of moving up to top 3 in the world.

"When you're going higher up the world ranking, everyone (other teams) will take a close look at us and we'll be in their radar constantly. We need to work really hard to maintain and improve our world ranking. I believe we've the potential to go higher up to world No.3, but for that we need to do significantly well at the upcoming events and the leap in world rankings has certainly added positive energy to our preparations," added Sreejesh, who was adjudged the best goalkeeper at the Champions Trophy.

Team's head coach Harendra Singh also congratulated his players for their efforts, but was quick to add that they must remain consistent to climb further up.

Indian Men’s Hockey Team Chief Coach, @HarendraSingh66, believes the visible improvements his team have made will make them more competitive than ever in the campaigns they will mount in 2018.#IndiaKaGame pic.twitter.com/TyLc9If2Gy

— Hockey India (@TheHockeyIndia) July 14, 2018

"My heartiest congratulations to all the players, support staff and Hockey India for their constant support. It's the hard work of the players that has paid dividends. I believe this team has the potential to do better and moving up to top 3 is a realistic target, if we finish on the podium at World Cup. We must work harder now and take this as a big motivation to excel in forthcoming tournaments," Harendra said.

(Source: Hockey India)