Improvise & Improve, the Sree way

PR Sreejesh is 32 years old, and for a large part of his existence, he has been the best goalkeeper in Indian hockey.

PR Sreejesh made his senior international debut in 2006, and for a large part of those 13 years and counting, he has been the best goalkeeper in world hockey.

After having manned the Indian goalpost like the Night's Watch guarded the Wall during those long, winter nights, you'd probably be forgiven to assume that Sreejesh knows every trick there is in the trade. The man himself, though, doesn't think so.

Earlier this month, Hockey India had organised a special week-long camp for nine Indian goalkeepers with well-known hockey goalkeeping trainer Dennis van de Pol. And the Dutch said while the eight youngsters had plenty of questions for him, so did Sreejesh.

"The day you feel that you know everything, that's the end of your career," Sreejesh told DNA from Bengaluru. "That's when you have hit a low. From there, you won't go anywhere."

(PR Sreejesh (L) is all ears to Dutch hockey goalkeeping trainer Dennis van de Pol (R) during a special camp in Bengaluru earlier this month)

The experienced custodian from Kerala — with more than 200 international caps — isn't quite looking at drastic changes at this stage of his career, yet he believes that he needs to keep evolving and improvising constantly.

"The basic problem with me was that I never had any scientific training when I was a kid. A lot of my movements, my basic positions were not right. After having almost 18-19 years experience, I cannot change my basics now.

"But what I can do is improvise: with my technique, with my skills. And that's what I was discussing more with him (de Pol)," Sreejesh said.

Despite effectively carrying the defensive responsibility of Indian hockey on his shoulders for a number of years, Sreejesh isn't living in a bubble.

There have been murmurs lately about how Sreejesh's footwork isn't quite the same as before, and it has only intensified with younger goalkeepers like Krishan Pathak and Suraj Karkera showing promise.

Not that it affects Sreejesh negatively, it only pushes him to question himself more.

"I always look at other goalkeepers around me, be it a first-timer, a youngster or an experienced player with 300 caps. I always look at them, try and find out what best they're doing and what's the best part of that goalkeeper. And then, I compare myself with them: what they're doing different than me, how is that improvisation helping them perform better," Sreejesh said.

"Every goalkeeper is different from the other. But I always keep an eye, so that I can experiment.

"There's never a full stop with learning for me. In one's career, there will be a first stage, second stage, third stage and so on. In every stage, you will get something to learn. You just need to keep looking for it," he added.

Sreejesh is used to being the undisputed custodian of the Indian citadel, having no real challenger in the country for almost over a decade. Lately, however, he has been rotated frequently.

In the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup final against Korea in April this year, Sreejesh was benched for the penalty shootouts with Pathak being sent out. Even in the FIH Men's Series Finals last month, Sreejesh and Pathak were often switched between quarters.

Sreejesh said this is being done to give the younger goalies exposure in low-key tournaments, while also ensuring that he remains at his optimum when the big ones come calling.

"Being the senior-most player, I think it's time for me to relax. For me, at this age, it's all about being at my best in the big tournaments. The lesser-important tournaments are to guide the youngsters, give them more confidence and exposure so that in the future, they can do that job.

"I'm looking at it that way. The second goalkeeper gets more opportunities to be on the field while for me, I'm getting enough match experience as well as adequate breaks. I can say I am ready for the bigger challenges," he said.
One of the biggest ones will present itself soon, with the Indian team needing to win its Olympic qualifier later in the year to seal a berth at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

Sreejesh, who has seen the good, the bad and the ugly of Indian hockey through his illustrious journey, believes the next few months are critical to Indian hockey for more reasons than one.

"The expectations that we have created for our hockey fans is huge now. If you look at the Cricket World Cup, everyone expected our team to win. Similarly, we have also created such expectations. Now, people are waiting for us to not just qualify for the Olympics, but also perform well over there. That's why, every step that we take now is really crucial for us.

"And I feel this is the best time for us to keep our heads down and work really hard, both for the qualifiers as well as the Olympics.

"You cannot prepare for the Olympics two-three months before. You need at least one year. So, this is the right time for us to make use of that because we have some big challenges ahead of us," Sreejesh said.