Sandeep Singh is destiny’s child.

Younger brother of 2001 Junior World Cup gold medalist Bikramjit Singh, Sandeep hails from Shahbad in Haryana, an area known more for its women hockey players than men. Nevertheless, he has put Shahbad on top of the men’s hockey scene in India. His latest exploits were at the Olympic Qualifiers this year, where he scored 16 goals in total, with five of them coming in the final against France. But the limelight is not new to Sandeep.

He first shot into prominence by becoming the top-scorer at the 2004 Junior Asia Cup, India’s maiden win in the tournament. Coming as it did in Karachi against arch-rivals Pakistan, Sandeep was immediately propelled onto the big stage. Since then, he has had a flair for shining the most on the big stage and remaining in news off it.

He made his senior India debut the same year at the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup and booked himself a ticket for the Athens Olympics. In the current squad, he is the only one other than veteran Ignace Tirkey who has Olympic experience. That he came on the stage at around the same time that another drag-flick expert Jugraj Singh was lost to Indian hockey after a near-fatal accident is part of his destiny.

It was again destiny only that kept him out of the 2006 World Cup when he was hit by a freak shot while travelling from to Delhi to join his team mates. That incident kept Sandeep out of action for more than a year before he fought his way back into the squad.

However, despite his obvious brilliance in penalty corners and his key role in the team’s fortunes, Sandeep has not had a great relationship with most coaches. In fact, he was dropped by Joquim Carvalho for the Chile qualifiers in 2008, where India failed to qualify for the Olympics for the first time, on poor form and indiscipline.

However, he came back into the national side for the Azlan Shah Cup the same year and scored 9 goals there to emerge as the top scorer, highlighting at the same time his importance to national side. His goals helped India reach the Azlan Shah final for the first time in 12 years, finishing with silver. The next year, he scored six goals in the first four games, helping India win the title by beating Pakistan in the final.

Sandeep Singh was given charge of leading the team in early 2009 and was captain for the Punjab Gold Cup. He is married to former India player Harjinder Kaur and has a son.