PR Sreejesh is aware of a factor or two about taking part in within the large tournaments for the Indian hockey group. A veteran of over 300 matches, Sreejesh has been a stalwart within the Indian dressing room for nicely over a decade and has been one of many protagonists of the group’s rise as a pressure to reckon with since they didn’t qualify for the 2008 Beijing Olympics. He was captain of the Indian group that needed to accept bronze on the 2018 Asian Games regardless of getting into as favourites to defend the gold they’d gained in 2014.
PR Sreejesh performed his three hundredth worldwide match in the course of the Asian Champions Trophy(AP)
Since then, fairly a bit has modified for the boys’s hockey group, to say the least. Under Australian Graham Reid, they ended India’s practically four-decade lengthy anticipate an Olympic medal in hockey by sensationally successful bronze on the Tokyo Olympics in 2021. Then there was the disappointing exit from a house World Cup with India failing to make it to the quarter-finals, a outcome that led to Reid stepping down as head coach, and this 12 months, India introduced themselves as outright favourites to win gold on the Asiad as soon as once more by successful the Asian Champions Trophy.
“The Asian Champions Trophy was a great preparation for us,” Sreejesh advised Hindustan Times. “We wanted to make sure that the team execute the plans and play to our best so that we can put some pressure on the opposition before the Asian Games start. The team is settled, the players are experienced, everyone played in the last World Cup in front of big crowds. That was a great experience for them mentally and physically.”
Sreejesh admitted that there are some regrets from what occurred in that fateful match in opposition to Malaysia on the Gelora Bung Karno stadium in stadium in Jakarta on the 2018 Asiad. India, who have been positioned seven locations above Malaysia on the time on the planet rankings, ended up drawing 2-2 after which misplaced within the penalty shootout. “Throughout the tournament we played well but few errors in the semis cost us the spot in the final. That is the only thing we all regret. Every team has some positives and negatives, at the time we made some mistakes in the semis but we learnt from that and moved on. A lot of senior players who were part of that team are still in this team. We share our experiences with the younger players and we are preparing them for the big challenges coming ahead,” he mentioned.
Among the issues that made the bronze medal end shocking was India’s utter domination within the group stage. They beat hosts Indonesia 17-0 within the first match after which decimated Hong Kong 26-0, bettering an 86-year-old document for the group’s greatest ever win in worldwide hockey. They are simply the best ranked group of their group this time and so these record-breaking headline wins may come round in Hangzhou. Sreejesh harassed on the significance of staying targeted on the last word objective – a fourth Asian Games gold medal and qualification to the 2024 Paris Olympics.
“That is a great challenge in front of us. Standard of the players are totally different in Asian Games. Somehow, the placement of league matches is quite good. Gradually we are playing tougher opposition leading into the knockouts. You just need to be consistent and focus on what you are doing. We cannot let the opposition influence our game, whatever happens, we have to stay in our zone. That is what I want to focus on because this tournament where goalkeepers get a lot of challenges,” mentioned Sreejesh.
New coach, not too new strategy
South African Craig Fulton was appointed as India’s new head coach solely in March this 12 months and Sreejesh has mentioned that he hasn’t tried to make any dramatic adjustments in what the group was doing earlier than he arrived. India have been visibly extra cautious with their trademark full press, usually trying to prioritise their defence with midfielder Manpreet Singh stating that Fulton has requested them to ensure that they ensure that their very own “house” is secure first earlier than attacking the opposition’s. Sreejesh mentioned that the group’s techniques are based mostly on regardless of the state of affairs calls for, whereas ensuring it would not turn out to be a state of affairs the place the group is simply reacting to what the opposition is doing.
“We just do whatever the situation demands. We make our strategies according to the opposition. When the teams are good in attacks, we try to be more defensive and we attack whenever we feel it is a good time for us to do that. It wasn’t just in the (Asian Champions Trophy) final, there are lot of instances where we went for a full press and tried our best to get the ball back and score. It is not like we want to be defensive throughout the tournament but it is more about whatever the situation demands. Sometimes we have matches on back to back days and at those times we don’t want to waste energy unnecessarily as well,” mentioned Sreejesh.
The 35-year-old mentioned that in contrast to Reid, who was an adherent to the Australian philosophy that was oriented in the direction of assault, Fulton brings a mixture of the group’s he has coached previously alongwith no matter he learnt as a participant for South Africa.
Australians like to assault quite a bit. They simply need to kill, kill, kill however Fulton has labored with numerous groups. He performed for South Africa after which labored with Ireland and Belgium. He has obtained that flavour of various locations and he understands the stress of being in Olympic semi-finals and World Cup finals. That expertise helps. He shares that have of successful the quarter-finals or large knockout matches like that. That may be very worthwhile for us.
Strategy-wise, each coach have their very own fashion. He is younger and likes to present us freedom to do what we wish inside his sport plan. That is nice for the children, they have a tendency to love showcasing their abilities and be the magicians on the sector. This is actually serving to them to arrange nicely. It has solely been 4 or 5 months that he has been with us so he hasn’t tried to herald dramatic adjustments however he tried to deliver numerous new fashion and construction into the group.
‘Milestones come and go’
India’s match in opposition to Japan within the Asian Champions Trophy, which they gained 5-0, was Sreejesh’s three hundredth look for the group, making him the second participant from the nation to that mark after teammate Manpreet. While he is aware of the worth of the accomplishment, Sreejesh mentioned that it is not one which he celebrated an excessive amount of.
“Milestones come and go. I didn’t celebrate it with my family but did that with my teammates, their wishes did matter for me a lot. I don’t know if my family knows the value of 300 matches or not, for them every match is just another game, they always feel like my son or my dad should win. That’s all. It was a great moment though, being a goalkeeper. If you are an outfield player and you are in the team, you will always get a chance. But for goalkeepers it is quite hard. As a second goalkeeper I always sat outside, that was the case for a long period. We sit outside and we learn and that is how we become good goalkeepers. So 300 matches for us is like 600 matches for an outfield player so it is a great honour. It has been a great journey for me,” he mentioned.
Source: www.hindustantimes.com
