The Wall Stands Tall

Paritosh Pramanik

“If you don’t fight for what you want .... Don’t cry for what you lost. It comes to an end to champions trophy...and silver was not the colour we deserved..”, Indian hockey goalkeeper Paratu Ravindran Sreejesh tweeted along with team’s photograph with silver medal dangling around their necks.
The entire Indian team was basking in glory after their silver winning performance in Champions Trophy at Breda, The Netherlands. But Sreejesh, though satisfied, was not happy. The ever smiling custodian looked a bit disappointed. He did not play to end as second best. He craved to win the elusive gold, which the Indian team is still unable to clinch.
Agony, pain, sadness was written large on Sreejesh’s face. India had lost once again to Australia, the same opponent whom they lost in the last edition. But India’s performance was several notches over what it used to be a couple of years ago. Or rather several months ago after that lacklustre performance at Gold Coast Commonwealth Games where they finished out of the medal bracket (fourth place finish).
“I always wanted our team to win the gold. As we all know this was the last Champions Trophy and we have never won it. So I wanted to win it badly. But we could not.
“As a team we definitely performed better. Reaching finals on two successive occasions is a great achievement I think,” says Sreejesh.
The second place finish performance might be and should be attributed to the team work but most of the success has to be given to ‘The Wall’ of Indian hockey—Sreejesh.
Not for nothing this lanky Indian captain is called by that name—The Wall. On ‘n’ number of occasions, the Kerala born custodian has bailed out India from jaws of defeats. He jumps in air, drags himself, throws himself in front of those rasping drag flicks pushed at a speed of around 200kmph, he writhes in pain, falls on the field only to get up strongly. And at the end of those grueling 60 minutes, he smiles, forgetting all the pain as he walks back to the dug-out with his mates.
There are some wonderful pairs in the world — Heart and Beats, Night and Moon, Flowers and Colours, Fish and Water and... Sreejesh and Hockey.
Sreejesh has carved a niche for himself since he was spotted at the age of 14 by the present coach Harendra Singh. The best goalkeeper award at the just concluded Champions Trophy is a testimony of Sreejesh’s acclaimed stature in world of hockey. He is rated among the best goalkeepers in the world.
It is heartening to see Sreejesh back where he belonged — the hockey field — after a sabbatical of several months.
For Sreejesh, hockey is his life. He was away from his first love, after a surgery on his knee, for a couple of months. And as per his own admission, those were the most awful months.
He never missed a training before that injury occurred during the Sultan Azlan Shah meet in 2017. The injury brought him the other side of hockey. No hockey stick, no goalkeeping pads, no helmet...only exercise and muscle building. He fell, he cried, but never lost hope. There were times when thoughts of not returning to the field crossed Sreejesh’s mind. But the fighter he is, he never lost hope.
Those rehabilitation months were very painful but Sreejesh performed them to perfection and returned with his trademark broad smile. Once, he even posted a photograph on his twitter handle while performing one of the exercises which stated: Rehab ...... wow please don’t go with my smile ,,,, something hiding behind that.”
What was hiding behind that smile was utter pain and agony which Sreejesh suffered daily.
But he fought those painful days. He defeated pain, sorrow and reminded himself that he was getting stronger after each and every session.
In another post while doing shoulder exercise in gym along with Rupinderpal he wrote: Each session gives us a reason to smile ...... yeah we are getting stronger.”
Another post read: To climb higher ..... you need to raise your bar higher ...#weekendGoal #rehab #getting stronger @rupinderbob3”
For over three months, Sreejesh kept himself motivating, one of the most difficult tasks to do when you are down. He was dying to wear that chest guard which remained close to his heart, his helmet with which he used to talk and share his brain, his pads with which he used to fire orders while defending powerful shots and his hockey stick, his ‘soulmate’ on the field.
“Those were very difficult days. Being away from hockey. But at the same time, I had Birendra Lakra and Rupinderpal Singh with me, both of whom also went under knife and were rehabilitating. We three motivated each other,” recalls Sreejesh.
“I did not want to rush things. Firstly, I wanted to be back on my feet, then jog, bend, run....I wanted to walk free. I took it very calmly,” recalls Sreejesh.
Happiness had no bounds when, finally, Sreejesh came back to the field after the surgery and rehab.
“Back into my soul ...its been 90days I’m away from my second skin.. #goalkeeper,” he wrote as he clawed his way back to join his Indian mates in conditioning camp.
But Sreejesh knew that it won’t be easy to win back his spot as the first choice goalkeeper, leave aside leading the Indian team. His absence gave Hockey India a chance to test bench strength. Goalkeepers like Vijay Dahiya, Akash Chikte and Suraj Kerkara, to name a few, had grabbed the little opportunity they got in Sreejesh’s absence.
However, Sreejesh was injected to train the young goalkeepers.
His mantra was clear. “To train keeper means to learn something everytime from them.”
His training schedule was his own learning session. “What I am teaching them is what I will have to perform,” he had said.
Slowly and steadily Sreejesh got his rhythm back.
Back in his den — the Goalpost — Sreejesh was full of energy. He had got his skin back, his kit and his soul.
A couple of tournaments were needed to gain confidence and Sreejesh was included in Indian team for Europe tour. India performed well but above all Sreejesh fared better.
But a change of guard in coaching department saw Indian team faltering badly in Commonwealth Games. The players were confused with the ways of the then coach Sjoerd Marijne. The result was disappointing and Marijne was shown the door.
“I was very disappointed with the CWG result. The players had shown tremendous faith in me. But I failed to pay them back. I wanted to repay them and regain my place. The next three months for me was training and only training. I toiled hard only to fulfil the dreams of my team-mates. They all had been with me in my hard times and I wanted them to keep believing in me,” says the father of two.
Marijne’s sacking opened the way for Harendra Singh, the man who helped India win Junior World Cup in 2016.
That was the best thing to happen to India hockey in the year which has important tournaments like Asian Games and Men’s World Cup lined up in coming months.
Harendra and Sreejesh jelled well. And why not. It was Harendra who had spotted talent in Sreejesh when the goalkeeper was just 14 years old.
The two led Indian team to the podium in Breda where Sreejesh was exceptional.
A goalkeeper always cherishes to be tested in difficult situations. Sreejesh, too, loves pressure situation. He always likes to be tested under the bar. Same thing happened in Breda. ‘The Wall’ stood tall against Pakistan, Argentina, Belgium, Australia and the Netherlands.
Out of the 33 penalty corners India conceded, only three were converted. That’s what Sreejesh did. Take all the painful hits on his body and bail out India.
Coach Harendra Singh believes it’s the teamwork that helps Sreejesh carry out those saves.
“It’s the team work. No doubt Sreejesh is the best. But it’s the co-ordination between the rushers, and defenders during short corners, which helped Sreejesh make those saves,” Harendra says.
“The best thing about Sreejesh is that he is best in anticipating any shot. He happens to be at the right place at the right time. A keeper would make a spectacular save when he is out of position and jumps to clear the ball. But Sreejesh makes it look so easy because he anticipates well.
“He keeps on talking with himself, he motivates himself and also talks a lot with his players. That quality makes him special,” Harendra adds.
Harendra was also happy to see Sreejesh back to his best. “There were apprehensions whether Sreejesh would regain his best form or not. But he proved all the doubters wrong. The Wall is back with same agility and power,” Harendra proudly says.
Harendra feels that Sreejesh has matured like an old wine.
“A goalkeeper matures in his 30s. Same is with Sreejesh. He is 30 years old and is maturing at the right time.”
With Seeejesh in best form India are ready for the Asian Games to be held in Jakarta from August 18.
A gold winning performance will see India qualify for Tokyo Olympics.
Harendra is confident that the team under Sreejesh is capable of winning the gold medal.
“The team is ready for Asian Games and we will be back with the gold,” avers Harendra.
“We are playing aggressive and attacking hockey. This silver winning performance has given us a lot of positives. We are playing total hockey and the players are believing in themselves. We are a changed group and with the way Sreejesh is leading the side with his solid performance nobody can stop us from winning the gold,” concludes Harendra.
That said and done, Indian hockey has definitely moved forward and that too in right direction, thanks to stupendous performance from comeback man Sreejesh and the support staff headed by chief coach Harendra Singh.
“We are moving in the right direction. The Asian Games will be a different ball game as teams like Korea, Japan, China and Pakistan would play with different strategy. But I am sure we will win gold and qualify for the Olympics,” a confident Sreejesh concludes.
With each passing day, Sreejesh will continue to mature more which will only help Indians match the Europeans.