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India goalkeeper PR Sreejesh on the changing landscape of Indian hockey, his journey to the top, using reflexes in real life and role of education in sport. This session was moderated National Sports Editor Sandeep Dwivedi.Sandeep Dwivedi: We used to say in cricket that if a match goes to the end overs, there’s Dhoni. It’s the same with you, if the match goes to a tie-breaker, there is the confidence that Sreejesh is there. How difficult is it to build the reputation and carry the burden of expectations?
I enjoy it a lot. I never think about the future, the result. I think about what I can do better. I don’t take pressure. I only think about what I can do at that particular point, in those eight seconds (during a penalty shootout).

Sandeep Dwivedi: When you are facing a striker, you have that confidence and larger-than-life presence at the post. It plays on the psyche of the striker. Is that conscious? How important is it to build that image so you have an edge in a one-on-one situation?
The mental thing is the only thing that happens in a shootout. The goalkeeper and the striker have just eight seconds. So it’s tricky, you can’t show that you are over-confident or that you are afraid. Your emotions have to be neutral. When I prepare for a penalty shootout, I look at the opponent, look at his (striker’s) speciality. I just keep things to myself. I tell myself, ‘it’s about you and those eight seconds. Not that player’.

Sriram Veera: I will take you back to when you were 12 years old, and went to the hostel. You had some romantic dreams, but became homesick, broke down and took three-five months to figure out which sport to play. If you can talk about that phase.
(Laughs) Those times, there were a lot of movies in Kerala which showed hostel life like, you know, going out with a girl, watching movies, bunking class, hanging out with friends. My parents were strict, so I wanted to stay away from that. After I joined the school, I realised it’s nothing like what they show in the movies. You had to wash your clothes, clean your utensils, iron your uniform, no help to do homework and on top of this, you had to wake up early for training. So I thought, ‘where have I come, I was better off at home!’.
There was a goalkeeper there who told me, ‘Sree, come to hockey, it’s easier to play for Kerala, we are a good team, we train daily and we can beat anyone. You come, and 10th standard you can play in the nationals for Kerala’. There is a special scheme in Kerala for sportspeople. If you play for your state team, you get 60 marks in the school board exams. I was a bright student till 8th standard, but the day I picked up a hockey stick, I kept my pen down! So the thought popped in my mind, ‘arre, if I play hockey, I will get 60 marks’. That’s how I ended up in hockey.
(In Kerala) If you play for your state team, you get 60 marks in the school board exams. I was a bright student till 8th standard, but the day I picked up a hockey stick, I kept my pen down!
Sriram Veera: Then came a moment when your father had to sell his cow to buy you protective gear. Was that a mini turning point for seriousness?
That moment was definitely one of the reasons. My initial thought was just about those 60 marks. There was no real commitment towards the sport. I knew that if the team does well, I will automatically progress towards the nationals. But once I learnt that the equipment from the school wasn’t great and I needed to buy my own, it was a pressure situation. It cost Rs 3,500-4,000 then, a huge amount for us. When the new kit came, along with the excitement, a fear also set in: That I hope I haven’t chosen a wrong sport or wrong position (as a goalkeeper). The hockey stick would have come within Rs 2,000, so why did I become a goalkeeper? But I decided I will have to perform well, as papa has spent so much money on me.

Sandeep Dwivedi: How difficult was it for you in the national team, as hockey is dominated north Indians. How did you keep your place as you possibly didn’t know Hindi?
When I joined the camp for the first time, I became really mad because every day we would get roti and dal and different rice. We would never get sambar. Even chicken was cooked differently. There was a language issue. I was not used to the weather. I even thought of running away. There was no one really to talk to. The only thing that helped me was that being a goalkeeper, I didn’t have to combine with players on the field and so there was no need to get to know someone properly. There were issues in the teams back then, for instance if you weren’t friends with someone, the chances of them passing the ball to you was extremely low. For me, it didn’t matter if I spoke to others or not. What was important was that I saved the shots.
Reading was a way to keep my brain occupied and helped me in making decisions. When I used to compare Indian players to foreign players, I felt they were individual thinkers
Mihir Vasavda: You’ve spent almost 20 years doing this. With hundreds of teammates, and dozens of coaches, how does one keep their sanity?
I never count the years. The first thing you need to realise is what you are. I’m a hockey player. That’s all I have got. So the more I work on the hockey field, the more I play and win medals, the better it is for my family.
One thing I always keep in mind — because of me, my team should not lose.
Mihir Vasavda: How has Indian hockey changed over time? We know the results, but what about what we don’t see; how you travel, how you eat.
The difference is between eating from a dhaba and eating from a five-star hotel. Earlier the menus did not change. For lunch, we would get rice, dal, chicken, paneer and staple vegetables. There would be someone standing in front of the buffet and portion our meals, saying, ‘Ek leg piece hi milega bas’.
Earlier, we wouldn’t get proteins and electrolytes. During training, our diet used to be nimbu paani and chana.
Now training is systematic. We have GPS trackers, we have trackers that keep a check on metabolism, how much we run, how tired we are, sprints, long runs and the intensity behind each workout. Everything is counted now. You get a schedule and your fitness is your responsibility now.
Mihir Vasavda: You mentioned education and the role it plays. You said being well-read helps your decision-making. How does that work for you?
Most sportspeople spend around 300 days in a year in a camp — we just play hockey and don’t do anything else. Reading was a way to keep my brain occupied and helped me in making decisions. When I used to compare Indian players to foreign players, I felt they were individual thinkers and took decisions themselves.
Nihal Koshie: When you ask players about India-Pakan matches, they usually say it’s just a game. How do you view that situation and the pressure that comes with it?
My first experience against Pakan was in 2006 at the (South Asian Football Federation) SAFF Games. The moment the whle rang, the Pakani spectators started hurling abuses at me. I was literally shaking. We lost 3-2 and one of the goals went between my legs. It took me a long time to overcome that loss. Now I can say it’s just another match, because I’ve played against them so many times.
Sandeep Dwivedi: You had crucial saves in the tiebreaker against Pakan the last time we won gold at the Asian Games. At that time you had said, ‘Against Pakan, I go in revenge mode. My blood starts boiling.’ Can you describe that emotion?
In those times a fight with them was inevitable in every match. I was young and there was emotion and pressure from outside. But now I’ve matured.
Nihal Koshie: There are a lot of India-Pakan camaraderie videos in cricket on social media. Hockey players in the past had strong bonds. How is it for you?
I respect a couple of players and used to talk to them. (Ahmed) Alam bhai, who used to be a goalkeeper when he played in PHL (Premier Hockey League). Waseem (Ahmed), Sohail Abbas — we played together in the PHL. It’s respect for them. Sometimes we communicate on social media. (With goalkeeper) Salman Akbar, we spoke. But on the field nowadays, it’s not like we have a relationship. They mostly speak in Punjabi, so players from the north talk in that language and have a good connection.
Nihal Koshie: Till a couple of months back, some of India’s top wrestlers were protesting on the streets of Delhi. At that time, we saw very few sportspeople come out to demand justice for them. Don’t you think that not just you, but others also should have spoken?
We don’t know the inside details of the matter. Whatever we have seen has come in the media, because this reached all the places where it was supposed to reach. And still if nothing is happening, then automatically you will feel that how can you speak on something that you don’t know in detail about.
Anil Sasi: Some countries that were not traditionally hockey-playing countries have emerged, like Belgium and Argentina. Is something being incorporated in the way kids are being picked up early for training?
In 2009, when we went to Belgium, we used to score seven or eight goals, and when we are playing against them now, scores are like 3-2. They won the Olympics, World Cup and European championships.
One factor is the consency in their core group. In 2007 or 2009, I played against them and half of the team is still there. But in India, I am the only player who played against them. Second thing is the development of domestic-level tournaments and club-level matches. They are getting top players from Holland, Germany, England, Australia, Ireland and Argentina. Their youngsters are getting enough experience of playing with them and learning things in the beginning stage. In Belgium, Holland or Germany, every weekend these kids are playing matches and know how to handle the pressure. That is helping them become mature players 18 or 20. Here we are picking a young player, grooming him, providing everything but they are not learning themselves.
Shivani Naik: What goes on in the mind of a goalkeeper in the seconds just before a drag-flick? Is there a process involved in how you think and how you approach it?
If you think, you die, so don’t think. You have done your basic homework and know who is going to flick and where he is going to flick. But you cannot judge it, you cannot anticipate it because once you anticipate, you are dead. These players, nowadays, their drag-flick technique has changed so much, they can beat you just like this. In the last moment, they can dodge you, they can put their hand or head somewhere to dract you, so it is important for a goalkeeper to watch the ball and try to be calm.
Shivani Naik: Are you haunted any goals that you have conceded?
There are a lot of goals about which I have felt if only I could have saved them, but you can’t change anything once it has happened. There is the one from the 2006 SAFF Games that’s on my mind.
Shivani Naik: Are there memorable saves that you are very proud of?
Whatever good we do never sticks in our mind, but the wrong one certainly stays in the mind. But if there is one save, it is the final one in the 2021 Olympics bronze medal match.
Tushar Bhaduri: You spend almost 300 days a year in the camp, so how does this impact a young player and his overall development, where you think of nothing but hockey. What about education, what about a player who cannot reach your level?
There are two aspects to this — one is why the camp is running and another is why are we not getting a break. The level of our domestic hockey is not that great. If we have a 150-day camp and spend 150 days at home, the amount of training that you have done with the national set-up will drop. This is because the domestic tournaments are not that high-intensity. Therefore, at times, the coach is also hesitant to send some of the players back home because some of them don’t get proper food and it affects their physical level. Secondly, when you stay in the camp, you get a lot to learn. Along with hockey, they also monitor your fitness. There are also psychological sessions. Even when you get injured, there is a lot to learn. If you are looking for the performance of the team, we need to keep them in the national camp. If you are a very good player and working hard, you will get a job in the sports quota. Otherwise you need to know how good a player you are and how good a player you can become. Keeping that in mind, simultaneously, you can carry your education forward.
Sandeep Dwivedi: Have you used your reflexes in real-life situations?
I was at my cousin’s place. He had kept four beer bottles in the fridge and as they were about to fall, I caught them all! My cousin pulled my leg saying, ‘First time, there was some use of me being a goalkeeper.’ Reflexes are natural, I don’t have to think about it. If someone throws anything towards me, I won’t catch it, I’ll parry it away. I was playing a celebrity football match. Chhetri bhai was the captain. He told me, ‘Sreejesh, you have to catch the ball’. I said no problem. When the match started, I kept kicking the ball away whenever it came close to me. Eventually, Dhoni bhai said, ‘leave it, he isn’t used to catching the ball so let him just clear it’.
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After the Olympics, there was certainly a wave. People wanted to play hockey, become goalkeepers… but if you want to continue the wave, you need more support because a child will always think, ‘why should I continue to play hockey?’ If they don’t have hockey facilities, why will they play?
Mihir Vasavda: Heading into the Asian Games, have you noticed any change in the mindset of Indian contingents overall — not just hockey — over the years? We now have world champions in multiple sports.
If we compare ourselves to the rest of Asia, we are getting a lot of facilities, improving a lot, players are travelling abroad and getting special training. So expectations are getting higher. Talking about hockey, when you are going to the Asian Games, you are the favourite there and other teams want to hunt you. So you can’t drop your level.