Exclusive: Sreejesh, India's strongman under hockey bar, revels in new avatar

Ever since a resilient Indian team rallied to beat Argentina 4-2 and seal a bronze finish in the Junior World Cup hockey in Chennai last week, head coach P.R. Sreejesh has found media attention trained on him again. The former strongman under the India bar, whose leadership from the back and stellar show was a key factor behind the back-to-back Olympics bronzes in Tokyo and Paris, wants to give credit where it’s due.

‘’I shared my experience with them on how to fight adverse situations and prepare for the big game but eventually, they did the job in the middle. All credit goes to the players,’’ said the 37-year-old, who tasted success in his first-ever coaching assignment after quitting the international arena following the Paris Games, his fourth Olympics.

What also makes the occasion special is that the third place finish by Rohit & Co. came after a nine-year wait since 2016 and in a year when Hockey India has just begun celebrations for 100 years of Indian hockey.

Speaking to National Herald in a phone interview, the much decorated Sreejesh said: ‘’It’s like a cherry on the cake that it came this year though we had a poor game in the semi-finals (they lost 5-1 to Germany and had to play the bronze play-off). The job of the junior team is to provide an assembly line of talented players for the senior squad, and there are quite a few candidates who can stake a claim.’’

A multiple winner of the FIH Goalkeeper of the Year award, Sreejesh had been arguably one of the best goalkeepers of his generation whose trophy cabinet also has two Asian Games gold medals, two silver at Commonwealth Games and four Asian Champions Trophy gold medals.

The Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna awardee had been back to business in less than a week from last Sunday — attending to trials for zeroing in on the next bunch of promising players for another Junior World Cup in two years’ time. ‘The process has to continue,’’ a pragmatic Sreejesh says.

A bit reluctant initially to name the players from the current lot who can break through to the senior level, Sreejesh said: "Not all of them can make it as the current crop of seniors are doing a great job and there are only limited spots available. However, goalkeeper Princedeep (Singh) is certainly one of them, so is captain Rohit in defence, midfielder Ankit Pal, while Arshdeep (Singh) among forwards are the ones who can make it to the senior ranks.’’ 

An interesting aspect of the backroom staff for Sreejesh is that it’s an all-Indian staff and Sreejesh is gung ho about their contribution. ‘’It’s always good to rely on your own staff. I have known assistant coach Birendra Lakra from my playing days while the likes of Janardhana (Chowdlu Babu) and Nikhil (Nale) provided valuable inputs from the bench as I didn’t sit on the bench and prefer to keep an eye on the game from a higher level. It’s not one guy’s job and it had been a great team effort,’’ remarked Sreejesh.

Reflecting on the journey of Indian hockey from sheer despondency to ending the Olympics medal jinx in the last five to six years, Sreejesh felt that the transformation started when the national team failed to qualify for Beijing 2008. ‘’The desperation actually started from there as we as a nation, with eight gold medals to show, failed to qualify. However, you can’t win medals overnight and it took the group a lot of passion, dedication and hard work to end the jinx with a bronze in 2021.

‘’If Tokyo and Paris had broken the jinx, it’s time to pass on the legacy to the next generation,’’ he signed off.