Hockey India named the 16-member men’s squad for the Asian Games on Thursday. The team, unchanged from the one fielded at the Commonwealth Games, would have P.R. Sreejesh as the lone goalkeeper. Defender and penalty corner expert V.R. Raghunath has been groomed as his back-up.
“There is no pressure (being lone goalkeeper). It feels good that the team trusts me so much and I treat it as a positive spur to improve my performance. If something does happen, we will have Raghunath as back-up,” Sreejesh said.
Raghunath, though, hoped he wouldn’t really have to pad up.
The Coorgi, who started as a custodian in school before switching to defending and drag-flicking, agreed it was a change from scoring goals to saving them.
“We have been working on it for some time now.
“Sreejesh is my coach and he tries to keep telling how to move my legs, how to position myself.
“But I am confident that such a situation would not arise.
“Now when we practice, I realise how fast the ball comes during corners. But it can’t be helped,” Raghunath admitted.
India has been clubbed with Pakistan in Pool A and the game would be crucial for the team’s progress in the tournament.
Sreejesh insisted it would be just another team but admitted things don’t always go according to plan against Pakistan.
“Pakistan will be concerned because it hasn’t played a top-level international competition in a long time while we have been visibly improving.
“At the same time, we haven’t seen them so it isn’t easy to plan. However, when it comes to Pakistan, the match itself is big enough to motivate everyone,” he said
He agreed there was more understanding between the players now but was concerned about their confidence levels.
The team:
Goalkeeper: P.R. Sreejesh; Defenders: Gurbaj Singh, Birendra Lakra, Rupinder Pal Singh, Kothajit Singh, V.R. Raghunath; Midfielders: Dharamvir Singh, Sardar Singh, Danish Mujtaba, Chinglensana Singh, Manpreet Singh; Forwards: Ramandeep Singh, Akashdeep Singh, S.V. Sunil, Gurwinder Singh Chandi, Nikkin Thimmaiah.
