BHUBANESWAR: As India colts were preparing in Bhubaneswar for the junior World Cup, senior team skipper, Manpreet Singh, passed on a few tips to Vivek Sagar Prasad. Vivek, who has played many a match with Manpreet for the senior side, was captaining the juniors and Manpreet saw it as an opportunity to pass on a few messages. It helped that Manpreet could empathise with Vivek’s position for the former was captain of the colts at the 2013 World Cup. So the midfielder knocked on Vivek’s door to ‘remain as a team’ irrespective of ‘wins or losses’. He urged Vivek, widely hailed to be the next Manpreet, to avoid ‘pointing fingers’ in case of a loss.
This isn’t just some sort of bond between the captains of two teams at the World Cup. At some level, this is just a sub plot in wider, more meaningful relationships that’s formed between most members of the junior and senior teams. It’s now a forum where young tyros and old heads meet and dine together whilst talking about everything under the sun. Such relationships encourage trust, security and understanding.
So, in the hours after India were upset by France on the opening day of the World Cup, Manpreet, just to re-emphasise his message, again had a chat with the young midfielder. “I told him we could have done better,” Manpreet told the media. “But that wasn’t a time to blame anyone or finger-point. He had to lead the team on the field, make sure the players communicated with each other and showed unity. They need to believe in themselves.” That pep talk clearly helped. In the next two games, Vivek & Co. communicated with each other, something that was sorely lacking against France, and used that as a base to beat Poland and Canada to advance to the quarterfinals.
****
Amid an endless loop of uncertainties and lockdowns in 2020, the senior team were stranded at the Sports Authority of India (SAI) campus in Bengaluru. Competitions were scratched, friendlies were being very difficult to organise and even if countries showed a willingness to play, visas weren’t being issued. Having just beaten the Netherlands and Belgium in a two-week window in January and February, they believed they were genuine contenders to medal at the Olympics. This setback hurt them.
Even as other teams started to cross borders and play, the senior Indian team were left to play ‘internal squad’ matches. Visas were hard to come by so the status quo continued. That’s when the senior management decided to use the services of the junior team. “Both sides needed games so why not play against each other,” was the thinking behind it. Once that novelty wore off, senior team chief coach, Graham Reid, decided to experiment. The junior team changed its shape and identity to play like India’s potential Olympic rivals.
A bond quickly started to develop. Normally, there is a degree of separation between the senior and junior programmes. The pandemic kind of blurred that natural hierarchy between seniors and juniors because they started sharing the same space as the seniors day after day. The juniors understood that the seniors were there for them and the seniors understood the kind of problems the juniors might face because they themselves had gone through the exact process a few years ago. Harmanpreet Singh, who knows a lot of the colts like the back of his own hand, breaks the relationship down. “Whenever we used to spot something, we spoke to them. If they had any problem, they reached out to us. They just needed some fine-tuning, not a lot of work. Overall, they are very good.”
Harmanpreet has also sort of become an important figure in the growth story of the colts because of the prominence of the dragflickers in this team. Vice-captain Sanjay, for instance, even has that same style as the Tokyo medallist, five years Sanjay’s senior. The two of them have exchanged copious amounts of notes over the finer science of dragflicking since March 2020. “Harman keeps telling us the new skills we can learn,” Sanjay says.
****
Manpreet & Co, who are preparing for the Asian Champions Trophy, are also in Bhubaneswar. They train in the mornings but that hasn’t stopped a few of them from watching the colts in action. They were at the Kalinga Stadium for all three group games, silently watching from the stands. Both Manpreet and Harman watched the juniors like hawks before passing on their feedback. “We are analysing the games and after it’s over, we are giving the players our feedback,” the former says.
Full story: newindianexpress.com