Times of India: Forgotten man Pereira hopes for a turnaround

By Sudheendra Tripathi

MUMBAI: Whenever he has taken the hockey field, he has won accolades. His calm demeanour on the pitch has always left a deep impact on several coaches he has come across over the years. In Mumbai’s hockey circles, people have praised his skills and captivating work ethics.In that sense, Mumbai’s 29-year-old right-half Tyron Pereira is perhaps unfortunate to have missed out on an opportunity to don India colours.For, those accolades which have profusely been showered upon him, have never translated into a national call-up. Just once, that too way back in 2003, he did get a call to attend a junior-level India camp, after which he was a forgotten entity .

Pereira is intrigued and has often tried to reason why he has been ignored by those who take important calls. He has failed to arrive at a plausible conclusion.

“Since my early days, I am used to nice and encouraging words from my coaches and teammates. They have all admired the way I conducted myself on the pitch. Even when I was called for the junior India camp, coaches and support staff would single me out. They would always give my example as to how to go about things. But I don’t know what went wrong that I was simply ignored thereafter,” Pereira recalled.

Pereira, though, found solace playing the sport. Despite being snubbed by national selectors, he continued to ply his trade on the domestic circuit. Former India skipper and coach, Joaquim Carvalho, who mentored Pereira, got him a playing contract with Indian Oil. He played for them till 2010 and then switched over to ONGC, who offered him a job. Since then he has been a regular for ONGC. A few good performances in domestic tournaments and with a little push from his well-wishers, Pereira was drafted for the Hockey India League (HIL) auction three years ago. Dabang Mumbai were impressed by his skills and offered him a contract.Of course, in the first two years he did not get sufficient playing time, but this season, it seems, he fits into coach Jay Stacey’s plans.

In the last match that Mumbai drew 3-3 against Ranchi Rays, Pereira featured for a substantial time and was impressive too.

“I am hoping that my fortunes change. People do get national call-ups playing the Hockey India League. I want to prove my worth,” he said.