‘If we up the ante from the start, Commonwealth gold can be ours’

NEWDELHI: From playing hockey with a wooden stick in a Karnataka village, Somwarpet, to being the most experienced forward of the Indian team heading to Gold Coast for the Commonwealth Games, it has been a long journey for SV Sunil.

In an interview, the 2014 Asian Games gold medallist reveals why Indian forwards have been inconsistent of late, to whether drag-flickers diminish the importance of strikers. Excerpts:

You have worn India colours for 11 years now. As an experienced forward, how do you help groom young strikers and gel with them?

I experienced the same when I came in. I told them there is no senior or junior, we are all the same. If they have personal problems or are struggling with their game, we discuss about them. At the end of the day, the team is most important. Even if one player’s performance goes up or down, the team will be affected. We discuss things, personal or professional which helps us gel.

Why has India’s forwardline been inconsistent of late?

I agree the forward line has been inconsistent. But you have to see that even if we are not scoring goals, we are at least earning penalty corners. Obviously, there is no point being a forward if you cannot score a goal. We have worked on it. (New analytical coach) Chris Ciriello has also taught us a few things like when to be patient inside a D. The biggest problem we had was about positioning inside the D. We practiced new things in the last camp in Bangalore. We will see the results in the Commonwealth Games.

India have lost to lowerranked teams. Why does this happen?

Whenever we take it easy, we lose. Whether the Olympics or Hockey World League, we have lost or drawn to teams like Canada, Ireland from winning positions. We should learn from it. In the last two camps, we decided to not take any team lightly.

Do you think the importance of forwards is diminishing due to the reliance on dragflickers?

If forwards don’t create PCS, how will drag flickers score? Forwards are as important as drag flickers.

What do you make of India’s group? What is our chance after losing last two finals to Aussies?

Our target is gold. In 2014, we had chances but could not convert them. We have a good team, a mix of experience and youth. It is up to us how we perform. We have to up the ante from the start, only then can we win.