Fancied Air India to take on Chattisgarh
BHOPAL: While playing hockey in an European set-up, where matches are played only over the weekends, training is far more systematic and the focus is primarily on sharpening basics, could be an enriching experience, playing in India is a ball-game altogether.
Here matches are played almost at the officials’ whims, there’s no such thing as infrastructure, and innovations and introducing new techniques are considered an alien exercise. It can be extremely trying, even frustrating at times. But there are a few who juggle between these stark worlds rather admirably.
Twenty-one-year-old Yuvraj Valmiki is a classic example. For close to three months this introvert youngster was plying his trade for Club Frankenthal in Germany’s local league. And with his sterling performances was also making heads turn in the southern German city where serenity doesn’t come at a premium and chirping of birds is still music to ears. Valmiki now finds himself in scorching Bhopal just hours before his team Air India take on Chattisgarh in a morning fixture of the Hockey India-organized and Madhya Pradesh government-conducted Senior National Hockey Championships for men, that begins on Friday.
And though Valmiki has not had time to train with his teammates, leave alone getting used to conditions (he arrived in Mumbai on Wednesday night and rushed to Bhopal on Thursday morning), he is looking forward to put into play the new tricks he has picked up during his stint in Germany.
“It will be interesting, this tournament,” he told TOI. “European teams are defensive in their approach and believe in perfecting their basics. But we have grown up playing a skilful and aggressive brand of hockey in India. I have had a good exposure playing the European brand in Frankenthal and I am hoping to blend the two styles effectively here,” he adds.
At Frankenthal, Valmiki got a place in the playing eleven almost immediately. And once established in the side, he played seven matches, scoring 12 goals for his German club. His younger sibling, Devinder, is still there and will return after his completing his commitments with the club later this month.
It is a given that Valmiki will get a start in Air India’s campaign-opener against Chattisgarh and he can barely hold the excitement of playing alongside his countrymen. “It is always a pleasure to play alongside the likes of Dhanraj Pillay and being given instructions by players like Gavin Fereira (AI coach). They have played their game so respectfully. There’s so much to learn from them. I am really looking forward to playing this tournament,” he says.
Valmiki’s employers, Air India, had faced the ignominy of going down by half a dozen goals against Indian Oil Corporation Ltd (IOCL) in the semifinals of the prestigious Obaidullah Gold Cup tournament in Bhopal a few days back.
Now, when they begin their campaign in the Senior Nationals, they want to put their best effort. Their cause was enhanced by the arrival of veteran drag-flicker Len Aiyappa, who is back after playing the domestic league in Milan recently. It’s show time, folks!