Sreejesh: Unlearning process is now over

Ipoh, 17 March 2013: The first-choice Indian goalkeeper and vice-captain of the team PR Sreejesh was happy with the Sultan Azlan Shah outing as he came up with high-class performance in all the matches apart from guiding the young team to develop as key players.

“We have set certain objectives before we started on the tour. This tournament was important for the juniors and the team is virtually a junior team except for four or five seniors. Apart from providing valuable exposure to the juniors, our coaching staff also wanted to create a pool of players who can develop into good players and be ready to graduate into the senior team,’’ Sreejesh said.

Sreejesh who toiled as a junior for many number of years, knows the importance of grooming youngsters into mature players and stressed that experience against tough teams is invaluable. “I have played so many matches against Pakistan and I know them as giants. But for many of these youngsters they never played our arch rivals and more importantly they never lost to them. But it is a high-class learning as the pressure is high and playing under such pressure-cooker situations makes the players and develops them into class players,’’ he felt.

“Before we came here, we did not even play one game as a team. So I think the team has really jelled well and we played all the matches well. But the inexperience cost us as we could not come up with wins in the matches we played well. This is a learning and the boys will learn how to turn good matches into winners,’’ he added.

“This year is important for the team. We have the World Cup qualifier in Rotterdam, the Asia Cup and then the Junior World Cup for the juniors. So we have to make sure that the key players are not injured and not stressed out. It is critical to provide enough rest for them between tournaments and in one way bringing juniors here has helped our key stars like Sardar Singh, Birendra Lakra and Gurwinder Chandi to rest and recover from their injuries,’’ he said.

“I think in the last one and a half year, the coaching has really helped. It is not just tactics and physical fitness but psychologically, we have gained a lot. As a team we are playing better and the players are tuned to the new tactics and the unlearning process is now over as we try to mix modern play and less of Indian traits like holding the ball too much, individual focus, mis-passes etc.,’’ he added.

“So the team is getting used to the new coaching style and I am sure we are on our way back to achieve better results. At this time, we are not looking for quick results. We have long term plans and everyone is working on it and we hope to change the scenario in the coming years,’’ he said.

“We will go back and take some rest before the camp starts. But I am happy that we won against Pakistan both the times and finished the engagements on a winning note. The tournament has really helped players like Dharamvir Singh, Manpreet Singh and Mandeep to develop and gain experience with tough teams,’’ he said. They have played for long under different junior coaches. So it will take some time for them to adjust to the tactics and strategies of the senior team but they are doing well and it is good for Indian hockey,’’ he concluded.