Rahul Dravid name dropped as PR Sreejesh aims to take Indian Hockey to the top

PR Sreejesh, the legendary former Indian hockey goalkeeper, has expressed his admiration for the former Indian cricket team head coach Rahul Dravid's coaching philosophy.

Just as Rahul Dravid's approach revolutionized Indian cricket by nurturing talent from the grassroots to the senior team, Sreejesh is keen to bring a similar strategy to Indian hockey.

Sreejesh, who won a bronze medal at the Paris Olympics 2024, wants to mentor the youngsters to develop a comprehensive feeder system for the national hockey team.

PR Sreejesh plans to build Indian Hockey’s future with a coaching vision similar to Rahul Dravid’s

Rahul Dravid's coaching journey began with India's U-19 cricket team, progressed to mentoring emerging stars in the India A team, and eventually took over as the head coach of the senior national team in 2021.

Dravid, the former Indian captain, resigned from his position as Team India head coach after winning the T20 World Cup 2024 in the USA and West Indies. He was instrumental in developing the rich pool of talented players, and now Sreejesh wants to follow his coaching philosophy.

The Paris Olympics bronze medalist goalkeeper has expressed a strong desire to work like Rahul Dravid, focusing on junior and emerging talent to create a pipeline of skilled players ready to step into the national hockey team to leave a lasting impact on the game.

Sreejesh’s goal is to invest time and effort into mentoring young players, just like Dravid did in Indian cricket, to help nurture the next generation of hockey stars to thrive on a global stage in the future, and then want to become the head coach by the time the 2032 Brisbane Olympics roll around.

I want to become the coach of the Indian hockey team: Sreejesh

PR Sreejesh was quoted as saying by PTI: “I want to become a coach. That was always my plan but now there is a question of when. After retirement, family comes first. I need to talk with them if they are OK with this. Now you have to listen to your wife a little bit. The way I wanted is to start with the juniors, and Rahul Dravid is an example.”

Sreejesh further explained, “It's like you develop a bunch of players, get them into the senior team and let them follow you. I start this year, next in 2025, we have the junior World Cup and in another two years, the senior team will be playing the World Cup. So may be, by 2028, I can produce 20 or 40 players and by 2029, I can have 15-20 players into the senior team and by 2030 almost like 30-35 players in the senior side. And 2032, I will be ready for the chief coach's position. If India gets to host the 2036 Olympic Games, I want to be the India coach.”

Notably, Sreejesh has established himself as a hockey icon in India, winning back-to-back Olympic bronze medals.

On the other hand, Dravid is one of the most successful coaches in the world, guiding India to the ODI World Cup 2023 and WTC finals apart from winning the T20 World Cup 2024. Under his guidance, India also won the U19 World Cup in 2018.