Want to change colour of the medal: Sreejesh

India hockey goalkeeper PR Sreejesh during the FIH Pro League in London earlier this year. Pic/Hockey India

Indian hockey's stellar 'keeper across the last decade-and-a-half, PR Sreejesh, is both nervous and proud as he heads into a record fourth Olympic Games at Paris (July 26 to August 11).

Having played three Olympics, three Commonwealth Games and three World Cups, and with 328 international caps in the bag, there is clearly no shortage of experience for the hardworking goalkeeper. "It's a great feeling to be going to my fourth Olympics. When I started, I never thought I would come this far.

At London 2012 [his first Olympics] I was like a child. It was tough and the results also didn't go well, but after that, at Rio [2016], we improved and then at Tokyo [2020] we bagged a historic medal. So, it's been a great journey. I'm as excited about this [Olympics] as I was during my debut," Sreejesh, 36, told
mid-day from the national camp in Bangalore.

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The wily custodian made his India debut at the 2010 World Cup in New Delhi and has been a part of many special achievements, including the gold medal feat at the 2023 Hangzhou Asian Games, bronze at the 2018 Jakarta-Palembang Asian Games, the joint victory at the 2018 Asian Champions Trophy, gold at the 2019 FIH Men's Series Finals and silver at the 2022 Birmingham Commonwealth Games among many other successes.

At Tokyo, he was one of the pillars of then skipper Manpreet Singh's team. He is now keen to pass on his expertise to this team that has a good blend of youth and experience. "It's up to the senior players like myself, Manpreet [Singh] and Harman [skipper Harmanpreet Singh] to lead by example and help the younger players in the side. This team has a lot of potential and we have been working hard under coach [Craig] Fulton. The aim it to come back with a medal of a different colour than the one we won last time, but at the end of the day, a podium finish will also be a good achievement," concluded Sreejesh, a Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna awardee and only the second sportsperson from India to win the World Games Athlete of the Year (2021) award besides back-to-back FIH Goalkeeper of the Year awards (2021 and 2022). Last year, he stood tall in India's Gold medal-winning campaign at the Asian Games that sealed the team's berth for Paris 2024.