Is Harmanpreet Singh ready for Indian hockey's senior leagues?

Harmanpreet Singh (L) with team captain Harjeet Singh after winning the 2014 Sultan of Johor Cup in Malaysia

Penalty corner conversions continue to be a weak link for the Indian men’s hockey team. The conversion rate has been below average in recent months but surprisingly, the national team have a ‘problem of plenty’ in the drag-flick department – something they would of course not bemoan.

The likes of Vokkaliga Raghunath and Rupinder Pal Singh are pretty experienced with the latter being the senior pro, having being around on the international stage for ten years now. Gurjinder Singh is another talented player, lethal with his drag-flicks. One cannot forget Jasjit Singh Kular, who only enhanced India’s drag-flicking options with his brace against Malaysia in the world league semifinal round in Belgium.

The Indian team boasts some quality drag-flickers, but they seriously need to do something about their short corner conversion rate, especially in crunch games against top teams where the drag-flick department just falls away. This can, to some extent, be attributed to the forwards not creating enough short corner opportunities for the drag-flickers.

Given this scenario, there is always a temptation to draft highly talented 19-year-old Harmanpreet Singh into the senior team.

Over the years, we have seen how precociously talented players at the junior level are fast-forwarded to the senior league and sky-high expectations are silenced because a lot of times, a player performing impressively in the junior ranks has not been able to replicate his success in the senior team.

The question that is asked in Indian hockey circles is whether Harmanpreet is ready for the senior league. He is 19, and with age on his side and a year to go for the 2016 Rio Olympics, it may not be a bad idea to induct him in the senior team.

“I don’t think the selectors should induct him in the senior team now. He may be included in the core 33 probables so that he can enhance his learning about how to go about things in the senior team as playing in junior hockey is quite different from senior hockey,” feels Indian junior men’s hockey team coach, Harendra Singh.

Harendra has no doubts that the youngster will go places. “He is immensely talented and there is no reason why he cannot shine for the national team. We should not be in a tearing hurry to blood him in the senior team. Make him part of the senior team’s national camps for now and it will do a world of good to his confidence.”

The talented fullback, who hails from the town of Jandiala Guru in Punjab’s Amritsar district, captured spectators’ attention when he struck nine goals, paving the way for India to win the 2014 Sultan of Johor Cup in Johor Bahru, Malaysia.

He was picked up by Dabang Mumbai for $51,000 for the 2015 Hockey India League and did not disappoint the franchise owners, although the overall team’s performance left a lot to be desired. Harmanpreet slammed five goals in the 2015 HIL despite not getting adequate drag-flicking opportunities given the presence of celebrated Belgian player Tom Boon, who had a horror run in his first HIL stint.

It was only in the latter stages of Dabang Mumbai’s campaign in the league that the youngsters started getting drag-flick opportunities when it became pretty apparent that Boon was woefully out of form and struggling to live up to his billing. This gave young local talent like Harmanpreet a chance to truly shine.