CHENNAI: Former ace India goalkeeper and current coach of the junior national hockey team, PR Sreejesh, is confident of a good show by India in the upcoming 2025 Men's FIH Hockey Junior World Cup which is scheduled to be held at Chennai and Madurai from November 28 to December 10. The Indian team has been preparing in earnest at Chennai and have been featuring in practice games against other participating nations in order to figure out their best combination. On Sunday, India had a practice tie against Argentina at the Mayor Radhakrishnan Stadium. The former India captain is hopeful of a strong performance but insisted that the hosts will approach the event one game at a time. "We are confident of a good show in the tournament. Having said that, each and every team in this tournament is good. One cannot take any team lightly," said Sreejesh. The World Cup will be Sreejesh's first major assignment and he's determined to leave a strong impression. The expectations are bound to be high as he is also a familiar face in this part of the country, having played for IOB in the Chennai Hockey League. "Actually, well, first assignment, it's exciting. But definitely, it's for the country. And these players, this is a great opportunity for them to perform. So, my contribution is to train them, tell them what is exactly happening, how the pressure is going to be and how they need to prepare for this. And personally, I'm taking the baby step," he said.
"It's only one year for me in coaching. So, getting an opportunity in a big platform is a great thing. And I hope I can use my experience and try to get some good results from this tournament," he added.
The weather has been unpredictable in the last week or so and may continue to be the same as the tournament starts. But Sreejesh wants his boys to be prepared for anything.
"I think it's an advantage in good weather. I didn't expect it's going to rain in the next few weeks. Certain things are not in your hands.
So, the rain, the heat, the humidity, you can't predict it. Whatever be the weather you need to plan accordingly. We need to focus on things in our control like how do you want to do it (play), how do you want to change the substitution or how long you can play a player. So, some things which are not in your hand, just ignore it," he noted.
Sreejesh was pleased with the build-up and spoke about the importance of practice games. "These three practice matches are there to help us in our plans. The best part is we want to play some matches on this (MRC Stadium) pitch before the tournament starts. To get to know about the pitch, how this happens and where are the ups and downs in the pitch. That's the first motto. Second thing is how we play. We want to try a lot of things, half-court press, full press, sometimes taking off the goalkeeper," he said, adding that it was a good learning experience for the players.
Moreover, the practice ties and his year-long association of the players has given him a strong platform before the event kicks off. When asked about potential team combinations, the 37-year old, "This team has been playing for the last one year under me. They know each other, they are doing good now. Yes, I have got a fair idea of the combination we would like to play and its (preparations) going as per plan."
"Some strategies we need to do short passes sometimes. You need to do long passes sometimes. Some teams love to play more individual skillful things. So, Argentina is one of the skillful teams in this tournament. We just need to be prepared wherever we meet them," he added.
Sreejesh, during his prime years as a goalkeeper, was a rock at the last line of defense. But now as a coach, he is looking to ensure that every department is top notch. "Goalkeeping is not the only or most important thing that one needs to focus on. If a goalkeeper concedes 10 goals and my forwards are good and they score 11 goals, we win. So, you can't say that a bad goalkeeper loses matches. It's about that, if my forwards are weak, if they are only scoring one goal, and my goalkeeper is great, and my defense is good, they are not conceding any goal, we win. So, it's not depending on anybody. It's like a give and take policy. Some matches, we score more goals in penalty corners. Some matches, we never score, but we score only 1 goal and the defense wins the matches,'' he explained.
Not discounting any side, Sreejesh is expecting Oman, given their growth at the international stage, to be one of the trickiest challenges. "We respect the opposition, that's for sure. Having asked which are the top teams, Chile, Switzerland and Oman are the good teams. I think Oman is the one team which has become more established in the international arena right now. But the other two teams are not that competitive in the international arena."
