New Indian Express: We’re a team now, not a squad of prima donnas: Indian hockey captain Sreejesh

The world of the hockey goalkeeper is a lonely one. You can only watch when the forwards mess up chances, and then when you make a mistake, the daggers are drawn for you.

India’s hockey team captain and its goalkeeper P R Sreejesh understands what it is like. He likes to sing to keep his wits about him in that lonely circle and his smile and never-say-die spirit helps prop up team morale in the dressing room. While the captaincy is a feather in Sreejesh’s cap, he has always been keener about the team doing well than his own growth into one of the leading goalkeepers in the world.

Sreejesh has seen his young teammates evolve into a fighting unit capable of giving the best in the world a run for their money. “Our players have begun to believe in themselves,” Sreejesh told newindianexpress.com before the recent European trip.

“Every team fears India now. While all Indian teams of the past have been treated with respect, this team is slowly achieving a level of consistency that is a concern to all opponents. We are no longer an Indian team that could beat the best on their day but could also lose to lower ranked sides any other day,” says the goalkeeper-captain.

One of the reasons for that, Sreejesh says, is the number of penalty corner specialists that India have been able to develop.

“Over the past few years, we have created a pool of players in all positions, especially penalty corner specialists. We are now learning how to win more penalty corners in the opposition area. And our players are now moving freely to inter-change positions in attack to cause confusion in the opposition half. Equally significant is the way we defend penalty corners. The team has improved in a big way on both aspects,” Sreejesh said.