VR Raghunath has long been India's saviour at the international tournaments with his fine drag-flicks. But come Incheon Asian Games, and he will have some extra responsibility on his shoulders to not just convert the penalty corners but also pad up to stand outside team's goalpost in case of any injury to its only goalkeeper PR Sreejesh.
With Hockey India naming an unchanged side on Thursday for the upcoming Asian Games, keeping just a lone goalkeeper in the 16-member squad that won the silver medal in this year's Glasgow Commonwealth Games, thus thrusting extra responsibility on Raghunath.
This has opened up a debate within the hockey circles whether this new experiment of fielding just one goalkeeper may backfire during such a testing tournament, especially when India will only be aiming gold medal in order to seek direct qualification for the 2016 Rio Olympics.
But team chief coach Terry Walsh does not feel the same way. It has been 16 years since India won an Asian Games gold.
There are two main reasons why it should be easy for India. Firstly, India have had good international exposure after some stringent overseas camps and secondly, and perhaps more importantly, Pakistan, a one-time Asian powerhouse, has been sliding down.
"It has a lot to do with what the world of sport is doing or the world is telling us clearly. The fact of the matter is that 14 on-field players are not as good as 15 on-field players during any high pressure game. It's the energy that is required during any big tournament. A team has to go with full tank and try and preserve fuel till the very end. And with 15 players, you can actually protect that tank, than the 14, and that's where you need to think logically," added the former Australian great and India's chief coach Walsh on the sidelines of team's practice session here at the Major Dhyan Chand stadium on Thursday.
When asked if that would be too taxing on Raghunath and could also hinder his preparation, Walsh added: "This arrangement is only in case something happens to Sreejesh during the course of tournament. There is still a lot of time and I don't believe there is high probability about this coming into play. But, we have been trying him as goalie in the practice games and he is gaining in confidence for any eventuality."
While skipper Sardar Singh will man the midfield along with Dharamvir Singh, Danish Mujtaba, Chinglensana Singh and Manpreet Singh, the attacking line will feature Ramandeep Singh, Akashdeep Singh, SV Sunil, Gurwinder Singh Chandi and Nikkin Thimmaiah.
The team is scheduled to depart for South Korea on September 12.
Squad:
Goalkeeper: PR Sreejesh (vice-captain)
Defenders: Gurbaj Singh, Birendra Lakra, Rupinder Pal Singh, Kothajit Singh, VR Raghunath
Midfielders: Dharamvir Singh, Sardar Singh (captain), Danish Mujtaba, Chinglensana Singh Kangujam, Manpreet Singh
Forwards: Ramandeep Singh, Akashdeep Singh, S.V. Sunil, Gurwinder Singh Chandi, Nikkin Thimmaiah.
–shekhar.luthra@dnaindia.net
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