Rani says beating fellow Asian rivals China, Japan and Korea is on the agenda - but mention Australia and it is a "maybe".
"The teams are all very good here but we're a totally different side from the one that came here last time," says the 23-year-old police officer from Haryana State. "We only have three or four left from that squad now."
No doubt, they see the Hockeyroos as the yardstick for the bigger stages in pool A but the Americans will equally be a litmus test.
"Yes, there's some very good teams in round three of the Olympic qualifying tournament in Belgium," says Rani, whose team will make the cut to Rio Olympics next year if they finish in the top six.
The enormity of their resurgence is reflected in India prime minister Narendra Modi congratulating the women for beating Poland 3-1 in the final of the Hockey World League to advance to round three in June-July at Antwerp.
Rani sees incremental gains with India winning bronze at the Asian Games last October in Korea.
"Our target is to reach No 7 or 8 in the world first then work our way down from there," she says.
Predominantly petite in frame like other Asians, India's level of mongrel will determine how well they will fare here.
"We're still very attacking but we're more solid on defence," she promises, amid rousing debate in her country on whether they need to go back to the halcyon days of playing to their strengths or embracing "manufactured European" ideologies.
Rani hails from Shabad, a town that boasts a bevy of former skippers, such as Jasjeet Kaur and Surinder Kaur, among other pedigree players.
Rani's name translates in the vernacular to "queen" and she is just that on the turf, having chalked up more than 200 caps for her country last month.
The attitude to females playing sport in Idia has changed considerably with Rani saying her parents, Kuldeep Kaur and Jaipan Singh, supported her hockey career from the time she picked up a stick at 9.
Her brother, Mukesh, 25, is playing the game at the national level as well.
Rani, who made her debut for India in 2006, says with self-belief India can beat any team.
An arduous 15-hour flight, as well as a four-hour stopover at Singapore, has not helped their cause since they arrived in Napier late on Wednesday night - but they will be fine today.
A sharp shooter, Rani says teammate and centre forward Rani Rampal also has come of age as a 20-year-old who made her international debut at 15 as a prolific goal scorer for the Junior World Cup bronze medallists.
Rampal is the daughter of a peasant cart puller from Haryana State and toured here in 2012.
