From Zafar Iqbal to Mir Ranjan Negi, the India women’s hockey team’s stunning quarter-final win over Australia has rekindled hope in many a former star, tempting them to weave bigger dreams around Rani Rampal’s band of fearless achievers.

“They haven’t reached this far just by fluke. They did struggle initially in the league phase, but never did they give up. They never took a step back, rather kept persevering and now you can see the result.

“Such perseverance only showed that ladkiyon mein dum hai aur woh ladkon se accha khelein,” Iqbal, a former India captain and also a member of the India hockey team that clinched gold in the 1980 Moscow Olympics, told The Telegraph.

Negi, on the other hand, feels that the real story has been “more thrilling” than reel, referring to the Bollywood blockbuster Chak De! India.

“This win against Australia is more thrilling than what we saw in Chak De! India. The film went according to the script, but in Tokyo, our women’s team has created history. Sitting miles away from the stadium, I’m getting goosebumps,” former India goalkeeper Negi, whose life-story was one of the inspirations behind the 2007 movie, said.

“Nobody had any expectations from this team. Honestly, I too didn’t have any, but these girls have proved everyone wrong,” Negi, also a former goalkeeper coach of the men’s and women’s teams that won gold in the 1998 Asian Games and 2002 Commonwealth Games, respectively, added.

In Wednesday’s semi-final, India will face Argentina.

“The Argentina women’s team is really good. But there’s no need for our girls to fear them. They just need to focus on their strengths. Just make sure you plan properly, make minimum wrong passes and keep the ball in your control,” the 65-year-old Iqbal advised.

And according to Negi, all they need to do is stay calm. “The momentum is with them and at this point, they can beat any team in the world. But they have to be calm.”