FIH Series Finals | I consider this as one of the toughest tournaments, says PR Sreejesh

The Indian men’s hockey team has started their journey towards the Olympics qualification with the FIH Series Finals in Bhubaneswar. They won all their three group games against Russia, Poland, and Uzbekistan. The Indian goalies have maintained a clean-sheet against Russia and Uzbekistan while they conceded the only goal of the tourney so far against Poland.

Sreejesh is of the opinion that, with the goalkeepers being not tested much in the league stage, it becomes tough for them to come into the semi-final and the final matches.

"I consider this as one of the toughest tournaments," Sreejesh told Timesofindia.com.

"Because you (the goalkeeper) are not tested so far and suddenly you need to prepare yourself mentally for the semi-finals and final. There you are expecting a couple of shots to come that is going to be really crucial for the team performance."

The Indian team has been missing too many chances of scoring goals in the forward line. Even in the ongoing event, the forward line has failed to convert opportunities inside the striking circle. Sreejesh said that it is important for the Indian team to focus on how many chances that they are getting and how many are being converted by them.

"You know what's the difference between a forward and a goalkeeper?. One mistake from the goalkeeper is noted by everyone but hundreds of mistakes by a forward can get covered by one goal. It is important for us to now focus on how many opportunities we are getting and how much we are converting," the Indian custodian explained. 

"Understanding between the forwards needs to keep developing. You get just fractions of a second to think when inside the striking circle, like whether to take a shot at goal or to create a penalty corner if not in position. That thing we must keep reminding ourselves about," he said.

Sreejesh also stressed on the importance of having a mental conditioning coach in the Indian team days after the chief coach had also stated the same thing. The goalie is of the belief that the younger players in the side start to overthink when they play crucial games.

"The youngsters, with not much experience, start to overthink in tough matches. Even before the match, the mind can go to 'what is going to happen, what if the result goes wrong'. We need to keep ourselves in the present moment. (But) That is tough. So you need to be guided by someone on 'what needs to be done for this, how can I overcome that'.

"Normally, I talk to a couple of them (psychologists) when I really require. When I start to think negative, then I talk to one of the psychologists who has helped me personally. I even check on YouTube what to do, how to do. I read books. These all things help you to know what needs to be done during that phase, how to prepare for a match, say the semi-finals, how you can turn negative thoughts into positive ones, Sreejesh signed off.

"So it (having a mental conditioning coach) is going to help us," said the man with over 200 senior caps, who led India to the 2016 Champions Trophy silver and played a stellar role in the team's gold medal-winning feat at the 2014 Asian Games.