New Delhi: In the ultimate honour to a sportsperson, Hockey India (HI) on Wednesday announced that it will retire the jersey number of legendary goalkeeper P R Sreejesh following his retirement.
Earlier this year, it may be recalled that the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) retired MS Dhoni’s iconic No. 7 jersey.
Sreejesh’s tall deeds under the Indian goalpost earned the team win several laurels, including back-to-back Olympic bronze medals in the Tokyo and Paris Games following a 41-year barren patch.
Since making his senior international debut for India in 2006, Sreejesh played 336 matches. Now that he has decided to end his playing career, no one in the senior national team will ever don the No. 16 shirt.
Sreejesh was also awarded a trophy and cash prize of Rs 25 lakh.
HI secretary general Bhola Nath Singh confirmed that Sreejesh would be the junior national coach. The No. 16 jersey will be available for junior players.
“Sreejesh will groom the next Sreejesh in the junior team, who will wear the No. 16 jersey,” Singh said during a ceremony to honour the 36-year-old goalkeeper.
Sreejesh has set an eight-year timeline for himself before considering a role as the senior national coach, expressing his desire to be coach of the national team in the 2036 Olympics for which India is likely to bid.
“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 okay with this. Now you have to listen to your wife a little bit,” Sreejesh said.
“The way I wanted is start with the juniors, and Rahul Dravid is an example. It’s like you develop a bunch of players, get them into the senior team and let them follow you,” Sreejesh said.
“I start this year… 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,” Sreejesh added.
