We need to play our own game: Sreejesh
India’s chief coach PR Sreejesh minced no words while acknowledging the shortcomings in his side ahead of their opening match of the FIH Junior Men’s World Cup, saying his wards need to play their own game to reclaim the title on home soil after nine years.
India, the joint second-most successful team in the tournament’s history alongside Argentina with two titles, last won the event in 2016 in Lucknow. India will take on Chile in a relatively easy Pool B opener on Friday here. India, ranked second in the Under-21 category behind seven-time and reigning champions Germany, are clear favourites against world no. 18 Chile.
“Rankings doesn’t speak anything because on that particular day how you perform it matters. I have faced a lot of challenging moments in my career and it is important for them to raise their level up and expect them to play in a high intensity mode,” Sreejesh said on the eve of their tournament opener here on Thursday.
“Chile or any other opponent we should respect them. Every team play different games according to their opposition, so the videos which I saw of Chile, they were really good and playing attacking hockey. But it is important for us how we are going to play, executing our planning and strategies is important for us.
“It is important for us to play our game. Just be on our toes, respect them and play our game,” he added. Sreejesh accepted that there are a few grey areas which came to light during the recent runners-up finish at the Sultan of Johor Cup in Malaysia.
“We trained hard after the Sultan of Johor Cup but I am not going to give any excuses why we couldn’t score more goals from penalty corners. The scoring rate was not that great because of some ground issues which we faced in Sultan of Johor Cup,” he said. Sreejesh admitted that India will be missing experienced Araijeet Singh Hundal, who has been ruled out due to a shoulder injury but said he had plenty of options up his sleeve.
“...And about Araijeet, we will obviously miss him but how many drag-flickers you want in our team? We have about 6 to 7 drag-flickers. I think these people will not give a chance to miss Hundal there for sure,” he said.
Talking about his coaching experience, the two-time Olympic bronze medallist goalkeeper said, “They didn’t take much time to adjust with me, that’s what matters. A coach never adjusts with 40 players, it is the players who adjust with the coach. I know everyone since my playing days because we used to train in the same facility in Bengaluru. (PTI)
“But it’s quite different when you are playing in the senior team and coaching the junior team because we have been through that journey. But they are a group and really work hard and we can see the performance throughout the year which was fantastic. Ups and downs were there but that is part of the learning.”
An enigmatic character during his playing days, Sreejesh said with time he has toned down and prefers to be on the sidelines.
“It definitely takes time for me to adjust with the coaching, my reactions because you saw me how I used to play, aggressive and my words used to be really sharp. But all the advises which I received from the experienced coaches was you need to treat them in a better way so that they can perform.
“So I choose myself to stay, so Biru (assistant coach Birendra Lakra) and other guys will be managing them from the dug out. So I will watch, comeback and give them feedback.” India captain and team’s main drag-flicker Rohit exuded confidence ahead of the opener. “We are all confident about tomorrow’s match and ready. There is no pressure on us. We are confident.”
