For any athlete, representing the country at a global championship is a dream come true – even if it is an age-group event – but PR Sreejesh doesn’t want his wards to lose track of the long-term. One of India’s greatest ever hockey players and currently the head coach of the Junior Men’s team that will begin their campaign at the 2025 FIH Junior World Cup in Chennai later this month, Sreejesh urged the selected 18 to do everything they can to win the tournament, but more importantly, to dream big.
“The one thing that I always tell these guys is to dream of 2028 (LA Olympics) or 2032 (Brisbane Olympics), because these guys are not meant to be here in this Junior setup forever. Their dream should be like playing at the Olympics within the next eight years,” Sreejesh told reporters on Friday after the announcement of the World Cup squad. “This is just one of the best stepping stones for them, from where they can kickstart their career.”
“Even in this senior’s core group, there are a lot of players who didn’t play a Junior World Cup, so it is not that important. This is an added stepping stone. Look at Harman. Look at that bunch of players who came from the 2016 Junior World Cup-winning team. Take the 2001 Junior World Cup squad. Almost 11 or 10 or 11 players straight away jumped into the senior team from there. So this is a place where they gain experience because you’re playing a World Cup. You are playing knockouts in front of a huge crowd. That gives them experience, pressure management, how to take up the challenges, and how to execute these simple, basic things under pressure. So this is a stage for these people to rehearse well for their future careers.”
Story continues below this ad
But that shouldn’t take away from the ambition of climbing atop the podium. Having worked as the junior head coach since announcing his retirement from international hockey as a double-Olympic Games bronze medallist in Paris, Sreejesh has travelled with this group of players, building a strong unit that has experience of playing tough matches together. They recently finished second at the Sultan of Johor Cup, losing a close final against Australia.
“When you go for a tournament, what do you expect? To win. And we are training them to match up those expectations. We are doing everything to win the tournament so that they get more confidence. But the Junior World Cup is not the end for anybody’s career. It’s just the start. Rohit for example, he is 21. He’s not there for the next Junior World Cup. So for him, this is the last opportunity to win a Junior World Cup medal or to lift that cup. He’s the captain. So what does that look like, how important it is for him… so that’s what I’m telling them.”
Rohit, the defender-cum-dragflicker, has been leading this unit so there was no surprise in his appointment as captain but the team was dealt a significant blow as striker-cum-dragflicker Araijeet Singh Hundal is out with injury. The six-foot-plus attacker comes with an X-Factor and was even part of the conversations for Paris Olympics squad before eventually missing out. He has been regularly part of Craig Fulton’s plans and would have been a potential star at this level. But an unfortunate shoulder injury has seen him miss the cut. Sreejesh said that he fell and dislocated his shoulder during a training session and was advised to rest. Even though he could have been picked for the tournament, any further damage could have set him back so the former India goalkeeper decided against it.
“Half a year before, we made a 25-player core group where almost all of them are equally good enough and fighting every session to get their chance in the national team for the Junior World Cup. Definitely, Hundal is one of the senior-most players who has a lot of experience playing with the seniors and the previous Junior World Cup as well. Definitely we will miss him, but the players who have been picked are good enough. I hope that they will not give me any opportunity to really realise I’m missing Hundal, and I hope they will do their best.”
Story continues below this ad
The tournament, from 28 November to 10 December, will take place across two venues in Chennai and Madurai. India are grouped in Pool B along with Chile, Switzerland and Oman, who have come in as the replacement for Pakistan.
India squad:
Goalkeepers: Bikramjit Singh, Princedeep Singh. Defenders: Rohit (C), Talem Priyobarta, Anmol Ekka, Amir Ali, Sunil Palakshappa Bennur, Shardanand Tiwari. Midfielders: Ankit Pal, Thounaojam Ingalemba Luwang, Adrohit Ekka, Rosan Kujur, Manmeet Singh, Gurjot Singh. Forwards: Arshdeep Singh, Sourabh Anand Kushwaha, Ajeet Yadav, Dilraj Singh. Alternate Athletes: Ravneet Singh, Rohit Kullu.
