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It's hard to visualize the train of thoughts behind the goalkeeper’s helmet. Wide-eyed P Sreejesh, his eyes flickering behind the grill, just a minute away from a second Olympic bronze, watching the Indian defence constantly being pushed on the backfoot.
The 59th minute of the 3rd/4th playoff, India leading 2-1 against Spain. Sixty seconds away from a 2nd consecutive Olympic bronze medal. Sreejesh, having already announced his retirement before the Paris Olympics, now stands seconds away from what is a perfect send-off, an Olympic medal.
Each second is an eternity. Through the Pool games, that humdinger of a quarterfinal against Great Britain and the semifinal against Germany, Sreejesh, India’s wall, fortress, ramparts that surround the team has been without a doubt that last line of defence that kept India alive in virtually every match.
If ever there has been a retirement, perfect in every aspect, the campaign, the wins and then finally the medal and the celebrations, Paris was the perfectly chosen spot. Retirement plans tend to go wrong. It did look that way when India played Germany where they dominated, attacked with fluency but small errors gave away space in crucial moments giving Germany that narrow 3-2 win. Gone was the dream of an Olympic final stage; that ambition of playing at the pinnacle, a fantasy that most players hold dear.
The Longest Minute of Sreejesh's Career
For a nation that won its last Olympic gold in 1980, being in position to win two consecutive bronze medals is no mean achievement. One reason why the last minute against Spain would be the team’s and Sreejeesh’ longest minute of their career; something of a similar kind that happened in the 3rd/4th playoff against Germany in Tokyo, three years back. That was a different game, led by Germany 3-1 before India came back to lead 5-3, eventually closing the game at 5-4 but not before last second heroics by Sreejesh.
Against Spain, he was in familiar territory. India leading 2-1. Exactly 60 seconds to go. Just before that Sreejesh had saved Spain’s 8th PC, lining up perfectly for Marc Miralles’s flick. 44.2 seconds left on the clock when Jordi Bonastre sprints down the left flank and just when about to cut into the striking circle, Harmanpreet goes flying in what, honestly, looked like a rugby tackle. Spain asks for a referral; Indian heartbeats are up. It could easily be a stroke. Thankfully, it’s the 9th PC. Sreejesh gets the defence organised, calms them down.
The rusher stops the ball, but the umpire blows for Spain’s 10th PC. It’s now 38.1 seconds to go. One cannot imagine what must be going through the minds of the Indian defence and at the centre of it Sreejesh. He knows if it goes to a shootout, it’s anybody’s game. Even though most Indian fans would bet their life on Sreejesh saving all five strokes – such is the confidence in the Indian goalkeeper.
And then, out of the blue, India saves the 10th PC, the ball is cleared, thrown down the line and even though Spain recovers the ball and try for a last roll of the dice in the final four seconds, the hooter is gone. The team goes bonkers and within seconds reach Sreejesh who is bent on the turf, paying homage, gratitude, to a pitch that has been more than home. It’s been his ‘karam bhoomi’; holding this team together, being the captain earlier, then mentor to juniors and today, the player-goalkeeper and it would not be out of the ordinary if one says has carried India to the bronze medal.
Sreejesh, The Absolute Legend
It is a team sport. But even in a team sport, there are players around whom, everything revolves – Sreejesh has been that kind of a player.
Former Indian captain and midfielder, Sardar Singh, under whom Sreejesh played the 2014 World Cup and also the 2014 Asian Games that India won, said: “It’s a tough moment for Sreejesh. Retirements are never easy. Especially, when a player like him has influenced the team in so many ways. I know we all don’t want him to go. But we also believe that he would have influenced enough juniors that today, tomorrow and in the near future, they would want to be like Sreejesh.”
It’s extraordinary to come from a state that hardly plays the sport. Kerala is by no stretch of imagination a hockey state. To come out of there and become an absolute legend not only speaks of his talent, it his grit, determination and staying power.
Player influence is not just about performing in a game or a tournament or taking the team to two Olympic bronze medals, it goes beyond that. A couple of decades back or even longer, Dhanraj Pillay was an influential figure but the team at that time was midlevel not able to make a mark by playing the semifinals of either the World Cup or the Olympic Games. But Pillay kept interest alive by the sheer weight of his personality, his eccentricity and of course that massive talent also ensuring that fans came to watch him. Sreejesh is similar and he has been part of squads that have been knocking on the doors of big tournaments. His personality, that character, the booming voice from the back, everything has made him popular. They expect him to save when the entire defence has been beaten, Indian hockey’s own God between the posts. He has delivered time and again.
Sreejesh's Profound Influence
Sardar makes another telling point. “Whenever India has won a medal in the last decade, which ever tournament, Sreejesh has been the goalkeeper. That shows his influence during a game.”
Romeo James, the 84’ Olympic Games goalkeeper and someone who has worked with Sreejesh feels Sreejesh’s brilliance was more evident when the game was structured into 4 quarters. “Since the 4 quarters were brought in, he played a huge role especially in the 4th quarter with the score board at 1-1. A man like Sreejesh, unless it’s an out and out brilliant flick, I know he will save it.”
Sreejesh had dominated a sport for more than a decade by standing between posts, padded and suited up, while the world decides to flick balls at 120kph an hour at him. In between they take direct, angled, deflections and even blind hits from handshaking distance. Let in a few of a whole bunch and the ire is targeted at you. Save all and you get a fair bit of applause while the centre-forward get the headlines for smacking in a couple of goals.
Tonight, Sreejesh will celebrate. Tomorrow, he will enter a different universe. The pads, gloves, helmet will be stowed away, a witness and testament to a chequered career.
Peter Rose, a Major League Baseball legend who turned out for the Cincinnati Reds, said after he had retired: “I’d Walk through hell in a gasoline suit to play baseball.”
Parratu Raveendran Sreejesh, one believes, will echo the same sentiments.