The Indian hockey team will embark on a mission to clinch their first Sultan Azlan Shah Cup title in 15 years with a new captain at the helm, Sanjay — India’s young defensive stalwart.
The 24-year-old, who hails from Haryana, will lead a youthful 20-man side shorn of veterans such as midfielder Manpreet Singh, forward Mandeep Singh, goalkeeper Krishan Bahadur Pathak, and regular skipper Harmanpreet Singh — all of whom have been rested. Sanjay has the unenviable task of filling Harmanpreet’s big boots, not just in defence, but also as a leader. Sanjay is undaunted by the job at hand, insisting he will rely on all that he has learnt from Harmanpreet and apply it at the tournament which begins on November 23 in Ipoh, Malaysia.
Harmanpreet Singh
“Although I was surprised when I was first told that I’d be captaining, I’m confident that I can do well, having learnt from Harmanpreet, who has always been a motivational leader. He loves to instil confidence among his teammates. Even if a player is making mistakes or not performing well, he always pumps him up and makes him feel like he’s a star player of the team. Even if our team is losing a match, he continues to motivate us and doesn’t let our heads drop. He’ll never shout or abuse his teammates on the field. What only matters to him is if we are sticking to our plan and executing the tactics our coach wants us to,” Sanjay told mid-day on Friday.
Been there, done that
Although Sanjay hasn’t captained the senior side before, he has had plenty of experience leading teams right from the junior level — he was the skipper of the Indian team that won the School Asia Cup title in 2017. He also led the India ‘A’ team on their tour of Europe (in July) and China (in October) — India A won seven of their 12 matches across the two tours. As such, he aims to supplement all that he has learnt under Harmanpreet’s tutelage with his own nous.
“I’m an aggressive player by nature, so I’ll try to bring that element into my captaincy. I’ll modify my approach to leadership based on what is required in a particular situation,” explained Sanjay, who has played 70 games for India. India begin their tournament against South Korea (Nov 23) and will then take on Belgium (Nov 24), Malaysia (Nov 26), New Zealand (Nov 27) and Canada (Nov 29). The top two teams after the group phase will contest the final (Nov 30).
When asked if India stood a chance at reclaiming the trophy they last held in 2010 (as joint-winners alongside South Korea), Sanjay said he’d prefer to keep his focus on the first match and insisted that the team won’t be getting too far ahead of themselves.
India’s mantra in Malaysia
“We’re taking it one match at a time. Our target at the moment is just winning the first game. We are only focusing on executing our plans, and if we manage to do that then I think we can win [the title]. But if we think about the final now only, we may take certain teams lightly and may then end up losing games,” concluded Sanjay, who was also part of the Indian team that won a bronze medal at the Paris Olympics last year.
