Eight months after blinding injury, hockey goalie Baljit is back

When Baljit Singh Dadhwal seriously injured his right eye at the pre-World Cup hockey camp at Pune in July last year, it seemed like the end of the road for India’s No. 1 goalkeeper. A golf ball that he was practising with to improve his reflexes smashed his retina, cornea and lens, and the chances of him ever playing a competitive match again were almost nil.
But 263 days after that horror injury — in which period he underwent two major surgeries, including one in the USA — the 27-year-old was back on the turf on Thursday, playing his first ‘A’ class domestic game for his employers Indian Oil in the Inter-Petroleum Board Hockey Tournament.

After 70 minutes, Baljit walked off the field with a clean slate — Indian Oil had defeated BPCL 4-0, and everyone was talking about the two brilliant saves he had made.

Having taken a major step towards making what had once seemed an improbable international comeback, Baljit’s first reaction after the match was of immense relief.

“This game reminds me of my debut as a junior India player during the 2000 World Cup. I have about 30 per cent vision in the injured eye, the rest is still blurry. I had planned to take the field in the later stages of the tournament but my coach Parmeshwaran decided to play me today,” said Baljit, who was Man of the Match in India’s 2007 triumph at the Asia Cup.

Baljit added that he was sad he had to miss the World Cup in New Delhi, and that he hoped to wear the India blues for the 2010 Commonwealth Games.

During the time he spent away from the hockey field, several of Baljit’s Team India mates, including skipper Rajpal Singh, kept in touch. “Rajpal and I go back a long way. He, along with Prabhjot Singh and Deepak Thakur, have been helping me with training whenever they are in Chandigarh. The one thing I have made sure after the injury is that I have not missed any practice sessions,” he said.

Baljit will be going in for a third surgery that he hopes will further improve his vision. He plans to play the Bangalore league next month, and Indian Oil coach Parmeshwaran believes that he will soon be back to his best.

“It was just a matter of one match for him. As a player, it is very important that he does not stay away from real match situations for too long. He made some fine saves and we plan to play him in the rest of the matches as well,” said the coach.