Savita Punia sets new caps record, Hockey India awards Rs 10 lakh

Star Indian women's hockey goalkeeper Savita Punia has become the most-capped player in the country's history. Hockey India praised the achievement on Monday and announced a cash award for her.

Hockey India said the milestone was the result of nearly two decades of hard work and discipline by Savita. To honour her contribution, Hockey India announced a cash award of Rs 10 lakh for her. Savita overtook former India forward Vandana Katariya's record of 320 senior international matches. The record came in India's Group B match against Indonesia at the Asian Games under way in Japan.

Savita is known in the hockey world as "The Wall of India" for her ability to stop shots in open play and her fearless record in penalty shootouts. The 36 year old played her first international match in 2009. Through her career, she has consistently represented India in major tournaments. She has so far played in three Olympics, two Asian Games, the Commonwealth Games, the Asian Champions Trophy and the FIH Pro League.

Starting out as a young and talented goalkeeper, Savita went on to become one of the most trusted players in the Indian women's hockey team. She also captained the Indian team for several years. The captaincy was later handed to Salima Tete, but Savita remains a strong pillar of the Indian team.

Savita played her 300th international match against the Netherlands in the FIH Hockey Pro League in February 2025. She became the second Indian woman to play 300 matches after Vandana, and the second Indian goalkeeper to achieve the feat after P.R. Sreejesh. On 20 September 2026, in India's 19-0 win over Uzbekistan in their opening Asian Games match, Savita equalled Vandana's all-time record of 320 matches, and on Monday, playing against Indonesia, she broke it.