Indian team’s defence needs to display more coordination: Sreejesh

The gap between India’s World Cup exit and the opening whistle at the Asian Games — close to four weeks — gives the players and coaches barely enough time to catch their breath, let alone rebuild completely.

And former captain and goalkeeper P.R. Sreejesh, who believes that Indian hockey is not broken but rather stuck in a loop of avoidable mistakes, attributed the men’s team’s recurring defensive lapses to structural gaps.

“When we used to play, we used to go for more man-to-man marking… Nowadays we’re playing a system which is very deep and different, which needs more communication and understanding, because you may see two or three people in the same zone, and sometimes you get confused about whom you should go and mark,” he explained in a virtual interaction.

It’s a tactical shift that demands a level of coordination the team hasn’t fully mastered, especially against opponents who thrive on individual skill and interchange running.

While the Asian Games come with Olympic qualification on the line, Sreejesh believes bigger pressures loom in the Qualifier pathway.

He cited 2018 as evidence, when India missed out on a direct Olympic berth but found its way to the 2020 Tokyo Games through the qualifiers, and came home with a bronze medal. In the news regularly now for his frank assessments of the ecosystem, Sreejesh underlines that his intention was never to criticise anyone.

“This is my team. If I don’t tell my players it’s time to wake up, who is going to?” he asked.

The 38-year-old, however, cut a far more measured figure when asked about allegations that a small group of selectors has run the process unchecked for years.

“I was surprised to hear that comment about bypassing the board. Hockey India can give a better answer to that”.

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