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After a sensational outing in the inaugural edition of the FIH Hockey 5's where India emerged victorious, drag-flick specialist and defender Sanjay aims for a senior India debut.
He opened up about his ambition and journey in the sport during a candid conversation with Hockey Te Charcha, a podcast series. "It was a fantastic experience for us to play in a beautiful place like Lausanne where many spectators turned up to watch our matches. Hockey 5's is a very entertaining format and there is intense action every second and one has to be very alert when playing," Sanjay explained. "We met many fans, particularly Indians and Pakistanis who said they have been living there for more than 20 years but never witnessed something like this before and were very happy to watch us play," recounted Sanjay. Having played this format at the Youth Olympic Games 2018 in Buenos Aires where the India U-18 team won the Silver medal, Sanjay said, he truly enjoys playing this version of the game. "I really like playing this format. Since Pankaj, myself and a few others had the experience of playing this format before, it was a lot easier for us to get adapted. Although we got off to a shaky start against Switzerland, we improved game-by-game and went through a lot of video analysis and changed our tactics which worked for us," he said. Having begun his hockey journey from Dabra village in Hisar, Haryana, Sanjay took to hockey from a young age. "I used to go to the ground with my brother where I used to watch some seniors play hockey. I never used to have a hockey stick back then but I used to borrow from some of the seniors and played for 15-20 minutes every day. I enjoyed it a lot and when you have so much interest in something, you will eventually improve in it and that's what happened with me," he said. "I played for about four years in my village before moving to Chandigarh Hockey Academy where I honed my skills and was so inspired by all the top international players who used to come to Sector 14 to use the stadium and the gym. Regular conversations with them inspired me to dream big," Sanjay admitted. He was first called up for the Junior National Camp in Bengaluru back in 2017 and since has been a regular feature in the Junior side. He was also part of the India colts' team that finished fourth in the FIH Junior Men's World Cup in Bhubaneswar last year, but now he has set his sights on earning his first cap with the Senior side. "The past 5-6 years have been very interesting for me and I have learnt a lot in these years. It feels great every time my name was announced on the India junior side. My family also feels thrilled when I am named to the squad, now I really want to take this up a notch and want to play for the Senior side. I will work hard for it," he concluded. (ANI)
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