Indian junior hockey team captain Harjeet Singh is still 19 years old, but he already projects himself as an emerging star. The youngster recently led a young Indian side which trounced Pakistan, in the Junior Asia Cup last month. But he believes he still has a long way to go in the sport.The final between the arch-rivals was expected to be close battle, but India completely outplayed their neighbours and finished at 6-2, to clinch the title. Recalling the final, Harjeet confessed that the margin of the victory did surprise the team, and admitted that they expected Pakistan to fight. “The margin of victory surprised us, because Pakistan had been playing very well in that tournament. But we had played the same team in some big competitions since 2013 and we had noticed they sometimes crumble under pressure if the opposition score early. And we wanted to do that,” he revealed in an interview to Indian Express. Incidentally, it was Harjeet who scored the opening goal for India, which they went on to capitalise on as they piled on misery upon Pakistan. The skipper spoke about how the warm atmosphere in the dressing room, allowed the young players to express their opinions freely. “After all our games, we had a team meeting in the dressing room where all of us were encouraged to say what we did right and what we did wrong and if we had identified anything to correct the wrongs. Apart from that, we also had one on one interaction with the coach (Harendra Singh) to further discuss the way we played,” he stated. He also spoke about how video analysis helped his team, to closely monitor other teams’ performance, which in turn improved their game. “The one time where we used video was to see how the opponents defended set-pieces like free-hits and penalty corners and how theirs forward players trap the balls.”The ever-passionate player, with his temperament and wise captaincy is certainly one of the bright spots for India in the coming years, and will look to continue his glorious form in years to come.
