‘The goalpost is my best buddy, I talk to him’
What was PR Sreejesh, the Indian team’s goalkeeper, doing perched on top of the goalpost even as his colleagues celebrated wildly at the Oi Hockey Stadium?
“A goalkeeper’s is a lonely job,” Sreejesh said, still sitting there. “Most of the time I am alone in my goal and he is my best buddy. When I concede a goal I tell him, ‘this is not the way’. If a ball hits the outside of the post, I tell him, ‘that’s the way buddy!’ So I am celebrating with my buddy.”
Sreejesh had every right to celebrate with his buddy. Together, they had endured a torrid last few minutes in India’s bronze medal play-off against
Germany. Even the clock was playing truant with India. In the final minute of the game, the clock was mistakenly not restarted on time. Consequently, a few seconds got added to the duration of the match. An animated Graham Reid, India’s coach protested from the sidelines.
In the midst of the chaos, Sreejesh stood like a rock. He had just deflected away two penalty corners, refusing a relentless Germany an equaliser in the dying stages. Now, another penalty corner came rolling. Gathering all his experience, he calmly punched away the drag flick and raised his arm in triumph to ring in the celebrations for what was Indian hockey’s first Olympic medal in 41 years.
The 33-year-old goalie from Kerala sprinted to hug his teammates, then took his place at the top of the post. “I did not know what to do after we won. It was like years of frustration coming out at that moment,” he said.
No one in this team knows that frustration better than Sreejesh. He is the only surviving player from the time Indian hockey hit rock bottom— not even qualifying for the 2008 Olympics. In 2012, he was the reserve keeper in London when India finished last without a single win. In 2016, he was in the goal when India were beaten in the quarterfinals by Belgium. “You know it has come after almost 41 years,” Sreejesh said. “The losses have been painful but now with this win we are passing on a legacy to youngsters. They will know that we are an Olympic medallist, they will believe that they can win that hockey gold again.”
Sreejesh had been one of the stars of India’s campaign in Tokyo, if not the decisive factor that gave India the medal. All through he has dived, palmed, and kicked with uncanny reflexes to stave off goal-bound strikes. “This is where years of experience comes into play. A goalkeeper is like an old wine, the more you play the better you become,” he said. “I have been playing for 21 years now and I have seen all the phases of a sportsperson.”
In every match leading up to here, Sreejesh has walked off the pitch with a grim face. Now he could not stop smiling, or cracking jokes. “Here comes my grandfather,” he said, when he saw Reid walking towards him, drawing a laugh from the Australian who seldom laughs.
After a series of grinning selfies, Sreejesh said, “now take a serious one.”
Why?
“Don’t know. I was serious for so many days.”