Pressure isn't a negative thing, says Indian men's hockey captain Harmanpreet Singh

The World Cup didn’t go to plan for the Indian men’s hockey team. Despite much euphoria and a commanding lead of 3-1 against New Zealand, India failed to hold on and were knocked out ahead of the quarter-final stage. It has been a steady climb back up since for captain Harmanpreet Singh. Doing well in the Pro League and scoring the highest number of penalty corner goals, he is back to leading India on home turf at the Asian Champions Trophy (ACT) in Chennai. And with Pakistan in the mix, it is always a special match-up to look forward to. Singh talks to Boria Majumdar about the ACT, preparations for the upcoming Asian Games and more. Excerpts:

After World Cup disappointment, you did well in the Pro League and against higher-ranked European teams. How are you looking at things now?
The World Cup was a major disappointment. Despite wanting to do our best, we were not able to win. It happens sometimes in sport and we learnt from that and tried to get better as athletes. That’s what is most important. We, as a team, are well prepared for the future challenges. We have consistently done well against European teams and even when we have lost a game, we have created enough opportunities to score. That’s when you know that with minor refinements you are as good as any team in the world. In the Asian Champions Trophy, we are playing with the teams that we will have to face in the Hangzhou Asian Games. It’s good preparation for the Asian Games, which will also serve as Olympic qualifiers for us. We want to win the gold and close the qualification process.

Playing against Pakistan is always a special occasion. Your thoughts on this match.

Yes, it is a special match and a special occasion. The intensity is different. We keep talking about this one game and how we can’t go wrong on this day. Things are indeed different when it comes to this one match. But you can’t let the intensity get the better of you. If that happens, your performance can suffer. It is about playing quality hockey and emotions running high don’t necessarily help you in doing that.

So, this statement that Pakistan is just another game isn’t true.
No, it is not just another game. It is a special match and a special occasion. Like I said, the intensity is very different. But the important thing is to not let the occasion get to you. While you know how important it is, the focus should be to do the basics right, do what you do against the best sides.

You are the best drag flicker in the team. Does that put additional pressure on you, especially on home soil?
No, it doesn’t. I have played many games on home soil by now and I am used to the crowds and the pressure. There is pressure no doubt but that’s not a negative thing. I like taking drag flicks and scoring goals. That helps my team win. But I am not the only drag flicker in the team. There are others now who are doing extremely well.

You have been taking drag flicks for years now. With sports science, technology and video analysis, it is natural that the opponents are studying you closely. How do you keep improving and innovating to stay ahead of the curve?
It is true for sport not just for drag flicks. We need to keep improving consistently to be the best. When it comes to penalty corners, we practice finer adjustments, variations, refinements that help us not to get predictable. We also study how opponents are reacting to a drag flick, who is the first rusher, what are they doing, what strategies are they using so that we are best prepared to deal with them. This is an ongoing process.

A year from now in Paris, India will want a repeat of Tokyo. Do India have a realistic chance?
Yes, we do. We have played the best European teams consistently and we have been competitive. Most recently, we beat the Netherlands 2-1 in Spain. There is no team that we have not beaten and our ranking (4) tells us that we have a very realistic chance. But it is all a process. The first thing is to get the qualification out of the way. That’s where the Asian Games becomes very important. Once the qualification is out of the way, you can prepare for Paris 2024 with full focus. But to answer your question we certainly have the team to do well at the Olympics. (Interview was conducted before the start of the Asian Champions Trophy)