Former Indian hockey goalkeeper R Sreejesh will soon be seen in a new role. Sreejesh will start a new innings of his career as the coach of the junior team. Meanwhile, Sreejesh recently said that when he starts his career as a coach, his idol will be Rahul Dravid, the wall of Indian cricket. Sreejesh played his last international match in the Paris Olympics.
Hockey India has offered to make veteran hockey team goalkeeper Sreejesh, who ended his golden career with an Olympic bronze medal, the coach of the junior team. However, there has been no confirmation from Sreejesh on this yet.
PR Sreejesh wants to follow in the footsteps of Rahul Dravid
Sreejesh was quoted by Hindustan Times as saying, “I want to start coaching from the junior level like Rahul Dravid did.” He said, “In this way you will have a chance to develop a group of players, when they come to the senior team, they will understand you and you will know about them.”
Before becoming the head coach of the Indian cricket team, Dravid had coached the Under-19, National Cricket Academy (NCA) and India A team for a long time. Under the supervision of Dravid, who was one of the most reliable batsmen of his time, the Indian team won the T20 World Cup played in America and West Indies.
The 36-year-old player said, “If I start working as a coach this year or next year, then next year there is a Junior World Cup in 2025, two years after that the senior team will be playing the World Cup. Two years after that there will be a Junior World Cup again, so by 2028 we will have a group of 20 to 40 players.”