Player-driven game plan didn't work: Sreejesh

BENGALURU: Indian hockey skipper PR Sreejesh's occupation - by means of his own admission - started without a dream. But there was a desire to excel. He graduated from the junior to the senior staff due to his hard paintings, skill to struggle odds and innate nature of being a staff guy. All these qualities will have to be on display because the staff, after a disappointing Commonwealth Games time out, prepares for three major tournaments this year - Champions Trophy, Asian Games and the World Cup.

With the staff having long gone through too many adjustments - gamers as well as coaches - since the 2016 Rio Olympics, Sreejesh is tasked with carrying with him a staff which is a mix of former captains, seasoned gamers and contemporary talent.

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As the staff prepares for the Champions Trophy in Netherlands next month, the Padmashri awardee, who was passed again the captaincy this month, believes, the recent change within the chief coach - with Harendra Singh taking over from Sjoerd Marijne - will not negatively affect the staff.

"Most of the 48 players in the camp have played under Harendra sir, so we know what he expects of us. It is like homecoming for us. About the difference now, firstly there is no need of a translator any more. It is easy to discuss issues with him and even the juniors find him very approachable. He makes players comfortable and that works well for the team," explained Sreejesh after a strenuous exercise session at the SAI, south centre right here on Tuesday.

Asked about the player-driven method followed by means of the former coach, Sreejesh stated it didn't paintings neatly within the Indian set-up. "In India, we are used to the routine of following the teacher. That's how most of us grew up. If he shows me the way I'm willing to walk. That said, I won't shy away from asking questions which can make me a better player. For example, if he draws a picture I can help him paint it so it looks better. But he can't ask me to draw the picture and he'll paint it, it won't work. He should have an idea on how we are going to play and we help him to make it beautiful."

While India finished a deficient fourth at the Gold Coast CWG, Sreejesh refused to point palms at gamers who let the staff down. Instead, he stated: "If I'm looking at critising people, there are many I can point fingers at, including myself. It is a team game, you can't blame individuals. As a goalkeeper I conceded some easy goals. Although I came up with some good saves, when you don't win matches it doesn't count for anything. We missed penalty corner as wells. I think we should take collective responsibility."

Dwelling additional on penalty corners, Sreejesh added, "We need to improve our penalty corner conversion but more importantly we must minimize the number of penalty corners we concede."

Looking ahead at the Champions Trophy, Sreejesh identified, "The Champions Trophy is like a rehearsal for us before the big events like the Asian Games and World Cup. It will be tough but we can't make excuses. We just have to work hard. We are planning and working towards garnering success in a short period of time. We have made it in to capsules on areas we need to improve and are working on it."