PR Sreejesh, a seasoned goalkeeper who is getting ready to represent India at his fourth World Cup, emphasized that a player’s performance in the tournament is more important than their number of World Cup appearances.
Goalkeeper PR Sreejesh, who will play for India at his fourth World Cup, stressed that a player’s performance at the tournament is more important than their number of appearances.
Sreejesh acknowledges that it is a tremendous honor to participate in his fourth World Cup, but he also recognizes that this presents an excellent opportunity to alter India’s outcomes at the ultimate hockey tournament. India has not reached the podium since the illustrious team led by Ajit Pal Singh won the tournament in 1975 by defeating Pakistan in the final.
The player declared, “It is a great honor for me to represent our country in my fourth World Cup, and the special thing about this World Cup is that it is my third World Cup on home soil.” This was the player’s fourth appearance in the tournament. This will be my third home World Cup appearance.” Sreejesh, who helped India win a Bronze Medal at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, said, “I don’t think any player has had this privilege of playing three World Cups at home.”
Despite the fact that this achievement alone ranks him among the best players in the world, Sreejesh was quick to point out that success is what makes a player great. I have always held the belief that competing in a tournament is less important to me than winning one. This holds true most of the time. In order to achieve the tournament’s desired outcome, I must give it my all,” he continued.
Sreejesh also felt nostalgic about his first World Cup appearance when his former coach asked him to play defender for India against Pakistan. During the FIH Men’s World Cup in 2010, this took place in New Delhi. My opponent in my first World Cup match was Pakistan. During the team meeting, our coach decided to include me in the match against Pakistan because he expected goalkeeper Adrian (D’Souza) to be fully prepared. I’m still thinking about this. “The feeling of getting a chance was simply incredible,” Sreejesh recalls with nostalgia, “when he asked me to pad up.”
“It was like a dream coming true to play Pakistan in front of a packed home stadium in my first World Cup match.” I still have vivid memories of the stadium, the atmosphere, the reactions of the crowd, and our victory over them. That was the best time of my life as a child. The star was added, and at the FIH Odisha Hockey Men’s World Cup Bhubaneswar-Rourkela 2023, he will be India’s best defensive player.
Additionally, he discussed India’s performance in subsequent World Cup competitions. For a player, the World Cup in Hague in 2014 stands out as unique. Despite our poor performance, we performed exceptionally well in that tournament. That was a very good performance, in my opinion. In 2018, we were unable to reach the semifinals. At this significant event, we now have one more chance to change our circumstances. “We hope to win and improve on our previous performance,” he declared.