Bhubaneswar,
\nRupinder Pal Singh clapped a couple of times and then shouted, \u201ccome on, guys\u201d, urging his teammates to finish the practice session. The players started post-training stretching and inadvertently formed a rough circle around Rupinder. Captain Manpreet Singh recounted an old incident about Rupinder and said: \u201cBack then I was a kid while you were already a star.\u201d The comment was meant to be a joke, but there is no denying that Rupinder has been one of Indian hockey\u2019s biggest stars in the last few years. Indian fans love goal-scorers, and no one scores more than a drag-flicker. Rupinder has been India\u2019s main penalty-corner specialist for many years now.<\/p>\n
On Wednesday, the 6ft 4in tall defender\u2019s commanding presence on the field was undeniable. However, the other players didn\u2019t see him as a star, they saw him as a leader. For the first time in his career, Rupinder\u2019s importance in the team will not be gauged by his penalty corner prowess.<\/p>\n
The 27-year-old, along with Birendra Lakra, will be leading a young and inexperienced defence in the Hockey World League Final, starting on Friday. India\u2019s defence includes Harmanpreet Singh (48 international caps), Varun Kumar (12) and Dipsan Tirkey (12). \u201cAt his best, he is a top-class defender,\u201d said David John, High Performance Director. \u201cAnd for this team, his experience is crucial.\u201d<\/p>\n
However, the Australian sounded hesitant when asked if Rupinder would be able to handle the added responsibility. Especially, as he is coming back from a 6-month injury layoff. \u201cThis is a fresh start for me. I am playing after a while and my intent is to bring a lot of energy on to the field,\u201d said Rupinder, who will be playing his first tournament since May\u2019s Sultan Azlan Shah Cup.<\/p>\n
John, who oversaw Rupinder\u2019s recovery, explained the process and time it took to get the dragflicker to playing hockey. \u201cHe had a groin injury. It was a fatigue injury, which he picked up over a long period,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe first thing we had to identify was whether it was caused due to a wrong posture or was it strength imbalance in his legs. But that wasn\u2019t the case,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe found out that his core was weak and because of bending low while drag-flicking, he picked up the injury. We didn\u2019t want to change his drag-flicking technique, so the only other cure was absolute rest. We patiently worked on building his core strength, especially in the surrounding muscles.\u201d<\/p>\n
For Rupinder, it was a frustrating time, considering the injury was caused by his main passion \u2013 drag-flicking. \u201cBut he understood that rest was the only way. He had been playing continuously for two years,\u201d said John.<\/p>\n
\u201cHowever, he was worried about how long the recovery would take. Every time we tried to bring him back, he felt soreness in the groin after training.\u201d<\/p>\n
That is the reason why Rupinder will not be India\u2019s main drag-flicker at the tournament. \u201cWe are putting no pressure on him to drag-flick. We have many other options. Maybe he can share the responsibility with Harmanpreet,\u201d said John.<\/p>\n
In India\u2019s practice game against Argentina, Rupinder scored one goal while one of his attempt was saved. \u201cIt means he is getting comfortable and regaining his confidence. But we are not putting any pressure on him,\u201d John added. Rupinder is not troubled by the prospect of not being the team\u2019s first-choice drag-flicker, saying he understood the importance of defence. \u201cDefence is my top priority. In our practice match against England (1-1), we couldn\u2019t get penalty corners. I believe that defence wins matches,\u201d Rupinder said.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s not just as a defender that Rupinder could prove crucial for the team. At a time when John and coach Sjoerd Marijne are pushing for a more player-oriented team atmosphere, the senior player\u2019s tactical inputs would be priceless, the Australian believes.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Bhubaneswar, Rupinder Pal Singh clapped a couple of times and then shouted, \u201ccome on, guys\u201d, urging his teammates to finish the practice session. The players started post-training stretching and inadvertently formed a rough circle around Rupinder. Captain Manpreet Singh recounted an old incident about Rupinder and said: \u201cBack then I was a kid while you […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":11648,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[122],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-11647","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blastingskyhawk.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11647","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blastingskyhawk.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blastingskyhawk.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blastingskyhawk.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blastingskyhawk.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11647"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blastingskyhawk.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11647\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11649,"href":"https:\/\/blastingskyhawk.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11647\/revisions\/11649"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blastingskyhawk.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11648"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blastingskyhawk.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11647"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blastingskyhawk.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11647"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blastingskyhawk.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11647"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}