PR Sreejesh aspires to be a chief coach of the Indian national hockey team by 2036
Three-time Olympian goalkeeper PR Sreejesh has played an exceptional role in the Indian men's hockey team for more than a decade. Regarded as one of the best goalkeepers in the world, Sreejesh aspires to become a chief coach of the national team after the end of his career as a player.
Sreejesh doesn’t want to predict his future and would be taking a call on hanging his boots after the conclusion of the Paris 2024 Olympics. The former Indian skipper emphasized that he would love to stay in the game for a long time.
“After my career, I will take a break for sure. I will need time to transfer myself from a player to any role, such as a coach, assistant coach, or goalkeeping coach. My plan is for a long time. My plan is for 2036 or 2040,” he told PTI.
“I want to improve myself, I want to see myself as a coach or a chief coach of the Indian national hockey team in that time because by that time I will be more experienced. I want to be a part of an Indian independent coaching staff of the national hockey team,” he added.
The upcoming quadrennial event in Paris will be the fourth Olympics event for the star goalkeeper. Sreejesh strongly believes that he is still fit to be a part of the national team for more years to come.
“For me, this Olympics is really important because at this age it is really hard for me to talk about the next four-year cycle," he continued. "From the last Olympics, I was only taking one year at a time. The rest decision comes after the Olympics.
“I don’t think so (it will be his last Olympics) because when you are 36 and doing a beep test of 20.8, I think it’s quite good.”
“We got the potential to finish on the podium” - PR Sreejesh
Ahead of the Olympics, Team India will travel to Australia in April 2024 for a five-match Test series. Later, the men in blue will travel to Belgium for the second leg of the FIH Pro League in May 2024.
These two campaigns will hold a lot of importance for Team India moving into the mega event. Sreejesh, who played an impressive role in India winning the historic Bronze medal at the Tokyo Olympics, feels the current team has a good potential to end up on the podium.
“The goal every time for an athlete is to win a gold medal in the Olympics but you need to consider the realistic factors. All the top 6 teams in the world are now beating each other. We have got an open pool where anyone can beat anyone,” Sreejesh was quoted as saying to PTI.
“I believe that we have got the potential to finish on the podium for sure but you can’t be overconfident,” he added.