‘I want to give my best’: Simranjeet Singh eyeing national team comeback via HIL route

New Delhi, Dec 5 (SocialNews.XYZ) Indian hockey team midfielder Simranjeet Singh is setting his eyes on a comeback in the national fold via the upcoming Hockey India League (HIL) where he is set to represent UP Rudras.

The 27-year-old, who had his share of highs in India's historic bronze medal in the Tokyo Olympics, has been out of the national setup since last year but is steadfast in his approach to earn a place back.

"In the Tokyo Olympics, we won the bronze medal after 42 years and in Paris, we repeated the history and again bagged a bronze medal. So, I feel it's a circle - some players come and some players go. I feel there were my weaknesses and back-to-back injuries before Paris that ruled me out of the Olympics. I feel coaches think about long-term and that's why they chose young players in the squad and they performed well. I want to give my best in the HIL and focus on one match at a time," Simranjeet told IANS on Thursday.

"My focus is on my game as I've been out of the Indian squad for the last year. I didn't get the opportunity to play in international matches so I have to get the flow back and improve match by match. The anxiety and pressure are the sweetness of the career. There is nervousness before any tournament but I forget everything when I step on the field."

The midfielder reflected on the time when he was dropped from the team and recalled the sadness he endured during that phase before coming to actual realisation.

"I felt bad at first (when dropped from the Indian team) but then I realised that it's a circle and it will continue to happen. I'm satisfied with my performance in the matches that I've played. If you think about short-term goals, you get demoralised but when you think of the long-term and betterment of Indian hockey then these things don't matter," he said.

"I will give my best and the rest is in the hands of the selection committee and coaches," Simranjeet added.

Commenting on the combination of the UP Rudras squad, the youngster is impressed with the combination of experienced and rookie players they have.

"Our team is very balanced with a good mix of youngsters and experienced players. Hardik is our Indian team vice-captain and will lead UP Rudras and foreign players are also very experienced. We also have youngsters (including Manmeet Singh) from the team that won the Men's Junior Asia Cup yesterday," he said.

"Playing with Harmanpreet Singh and Hardik Singh was a prestigious time as we've been playing together since our junior days. The atmosphere of Indian hockey society is very pleasant as senior players guide juniors really well," he added while expressing his connection with current Indian captains.

Simranjeet shared his previous experience of playing in the HIL from 2015 to 2017 which gave him a lot of learnings.

"I feel, I was very lucky to be part of the HIL from 2015 to 2017. During that period, I learned a lot and shared the dressing room with players like Jamie Dwyer. We implemented that learning on the ground that uplifted the graph of Indian hockey. The barrier that Indian players had for foreign players was ended by HIL. If our team is beating Australia today, HIL has a huge role in it. The youngsters get a huge platform to perform as our domestic tournaments don't get many broadcasters," he said.

"I'm very excited to play in the HIL as it is a very big opportunity to learn in a short span from international players. It is a great initiative taken by Hockey India and it will start the build-up of the sport again in the country.

"For women's hockey, it was most important to bring women's HIL as they do not have many domestic tournaments. Girls who are in camps have the opportunity but others don't have it. Now, they will also get the opportunity to perform and showcase their talents," the midfielder remarked on the debut season of Women's HIL.

Source: IANS