Rupinder is India’s future hockey star, says Jugraj

BANGALORE: Rupinder Pal Singh is India’s next hockey star. These prophetic words tripped out of Jugraj Singh’s tongue on Wednesday. Much like he was with his missiles from the top of the circle, the former drag-flicker is bound to be bang on this time too.

At 27, Jugraj looks more like the dasher who stormed the bigger bastions of hockey till a road accident cruelly put an end to his career in 2003. He doesn’t regret that, instead he finds his reflection in Rupinder, who he feels has improved dramatically in the past one year to emerge the top-scorer at the last Azlan Shah Cup.

“What works for Rupinder is his accuracy and variations. He listens to a coach and carries out every instruction that he is given. Strength and anticipation of the goalkeeper and defenders’ movements are his other merits. He will be the star of the future,” Jugraj said.

Listing out the other plus points in the 20-year-old Rupinder, Jugraj said: “He is good at defending penalty corners. His anticipation is good as he rushes at the ball. What you need is a keen eye which tracks the ball till the last moment. I had it and I find that Rupinder too has it. India conceded very few goals in penalty corners in the entire Azlan Shah tournament.”

Jugraj, who reached Bangalore only on Tuesday, had a discussion with chief coach Michael Nobbs on the number of drag-flickers for the next camp. “We have eight now and most probably, as the number of probables is cut to around 30 we will need four.”

Listing out the drawbacks of India’s drag-flickers, Jugraj said: “They lack in accuracy. They have good power but they should know where to put the ball. I am working on that. I got good results at Azlan Shah Cup and aim to do better. Also, we have work on their field play too. Rupinder Pal has improved as a defender. He won the best player award in three matches. We will be working on the others too.”

A self-taught drag-flicker, Jugraj put to good use the tips he received from his penalty corner experts from around the world.

” Baljit Singh Dhillon was the first to tell me how to go about it when we met in Jalandhar. Then (former India coach) Cedric D’Souza chipped in. I saw videos of Dutch great Bram Lomas and later met him at the 2001 Azlan Shah. In recent times, I have got a lot of inputs from Lomans, Jorge Lombi, Troy Elder, Taeke Taekema and Sohail Abbas.”

Does he regret that he had to give up playing early?

“It was unfortunate I met with an accident. But by the grace of God, I got a second chance to serve my country. I am happy with the assignment. My age too is an advantage as I relate to the players and understand them better. They also share their problems with me,” he said.