Sreejesh, who retired after the Paris Olympics with over a decade of experience in the international circuit, said the HIL experience will prove to be a stepping stone for new players to come in contact with Indian and international stars.
“Actually, this is going to be a nursery for them (young players). They can learn anything. They can learn everything from this tournament, right from the beginning, you can learn the art of handling pressure,” Sreejesh told IANS. You can see because you are playing in front of a very big crowd. And the second thing is that you are playing a lot of matches in a short period of time, more than 10 or more matches if you reach the finals. are, so i mean That you're playing about 16 matches.” “After that, when it comes to the team, you learn from the seniors or the foreigners, you learn about the team management, how you are motivating the players, how we are communicating during the team meetings,” he said. Or how we are initiating in the training session, or how you are preparing yourself for the match, or how you are cooling down or warming up after the match. So you can learn everything here. And most importantly you are a player As you mature as an international player, it is not for beginners but for anyone, even players who are playing at the international level can learn from the seniors. Can, who are part of this tournament.” Despite not playing in HIL, Sreejesh is associated with the tournament as the director and mentor of Delhi SG Pipers – the franchise that will be participating in both the men's and women's editions of the tournament to be played in Rourkela and Ranchi from December 28.
Commenting on the squad composition of the men's team, the 36-year-old expressed confidence in his former Indian teammates as well as the junior men's team players to deliver for the franchise.
“Look, we got Shamsher, Jarmanpreet, Raju (Raj Kumar Pal) from the last Olympics and of course Varun Kumar from the 2021 Olympic Games, who got the taste of an Olympic medal. So they are excited to be here. I believe they The youngsters in my junior team, the under-21 players like Rohit, Ankit and Dilraj, can be the first ones to learn from these seniors,” he said.
“Delhi SG Pipers, there are so many talented youngsters in this team. Good team and players with good speed. I feel that in the position of a director, or you can say in the position of a mentor, my duty is to take this team to their best. I just tell my players to enjoy this tournament because you are playing against the best players in the world. So you can learn many things. You can try a lot of things. And this is the platform where you can get a direct ticket to the national team. So as a director, I also enjoy it a lot. Learning things. So this is going to be a new beginning for him in hockey,” said Sreejesh.
After international retirement, Sreejesh took up a coaching role with the men's junior team, with the former goalkeeper highly praising Krishna Bahadur Pathak and Suraj Karkera for continuing the legacy left by them.
“Look, I think it's a big opportunity for all of them. I mean, Pathak and Suraj are definitely there because they joined me after the 2016 Junior World Cup. After that, they were together for about eight years. Stay with me. So I know these guys since childhood, they are doing great goalkeepers. Also, Mohit, who played in the last Junior World Cup, is excellent. They are working sun. And taking the reader to the next level.
“There is healthy competition, these four are going to help take Indian hockey or Indian goalkeeping to the next level. So I think I have no objection, I have set a level. So now it is their duty. They want to raise the level to a higher level so that the upcoming players can rely on goalkeeping in a better way and I hope that these guys will not make me miss the opportunity on the field,” concluded Sreejesh.
(IANS)
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