Tokyo 2020: 'PR Sreejesh is my hero, beating Belgium is not a task we can’t achieve'

PR Sreejesh was once again phenomenal in India's quarterfinal game against Great Britain, with former hockey captain V Baskaran expressing his admiration for the India goalkeeper.

It was heartening to see India defeat Britain in the quarterfinal and continue their run in the Tokyo Olympics. The defeat against Australia was like a wake-up call for us, and the boys have responded very well. The 3-1 victory against Britain shows we won comfortably. Only in the last 20 minutes, in the third and fourth quarters, we allowed Britain to fight back and make a comeback.

Sreejesh Parattu Raveendran of Team India and Thomas Sorsby of Team Great Britain fist bump. (Getty Images)

When I look at the match, our goalkeeper PR Sreejesh is my hero, hands down. We were 1-0 down in that period in the last two quarters and he kept out 4-5 shots, especially penalty corners. That changed things for India.

It also showed there is too much pressure on the goalkeeper, which means the defence did not play very well. That means even in victory we must learn something, which will help the team going forward. I would want the players to keep their feet on the ground and continue with the task they are doing.

When we win, sometimes we don’t see our shortcomings. In 2016 at the Rio Olympics, we played wonderful hockey but were eliminated in the quarters. At 2000 Sydney also, where I was the coach, we had a very good team. We were unlucky not to qualify for the semi-finals.

As far as this team at the Tokyo Olympics is concerned, they are making fewer mistakes and that has been a big plus point. The team has been together and that shows in the way they are playing. The youth in the side and the way the attack and defence are combining is good. One has to appreciate their work rate.

Now, it is one match to go to end the wait for a medal. We are in the semi-finals and we must get the job done against world champions Belgium. The team should be conscious of the fact that otherwise we will have to wait for four years and that should motivate them.

My advise to the boys is forget today, the win over Britain, and relax. We have beaten Belgium in the Pro League last year, so India will have an insight on them to do their homework. Today, Robby Alexander Hendrickx (penalty corner specialist) scored two goals in their win over Spain. Belgium used him as a trump card. These are things we will be looking at before facing them.

It is not a task we can’t achieve.

In 2008, India lost to Britain in the final qualifying game and as a result we did not qualify for the Beijing Olympics. India played Britain recently and they would have learnt about the team, which must have really helped them.

However, as a former player and India coach, I would always ask for more from the team.

(V Baskaran was skipper of India’s victorious 1980 Moscow Olympics squad and has been chief coach on different occasions).

(As told to N Ananthanarayanan)