Baljit hoping to earn India recall

Sandip G

CHENNAI: Even as the whole nation awaits with unabated breath the return of World Cup hero Yuvraj Singh, the re­silient tale of former nati­onal goalkeeper Baljit Singh’s recovery from a calamitous eye injury went largely unnoticed. Three years after a golf-ball thudded into his right eye, seriously damaging it and impairing his eye-sight, Baljit has made a recovery that in most sports would have been the stuff of legend.

From India’s most trusted goalkeeper to the oblivious discard, his fall from grace was steep, the three-year hiatus being the most angst-st­itched phase of his life, enduring pain, concern and bored­om. He patiently saw through every moment of lingering gloom, sometimes bursting to tears and sometimes with a stout heart willing to tackle life head on, with no protective gear as on the turf.

Baljit’s only wish was to play hockey again, and despite regaining only 30 per cent of his vision, he has returned gallantly, and solidly, for Bhopal Badshahs. “WSH has given me a new lease of life and I’m enjoying it. It has been extremely sati­sfying that I have been able to do well, especially against qu­ality drag-flickers such as (Imran) Warsi and Shakeel Abbasi,” he said.

He isn’t unduly worried about being continuously sidelined by the na­tional selectors, despite cr­edible performances in the domestic circuit. A recall to the national camp last year was the closest he got to the reckoning. “The performance is for them to assess, and all I can do is to give my best whe­n­ever I play,” he said. Howe­ver, he is glad that India qu­alified to the Olympics.

In the depths of his heart, he might still nurture dreams of a national call-up. But a man, and a brave one at that, who has withstood such uncertainty in life, he is happily resigned to just being able to play the game.