India kicks off their hockey campaign in the Commonwealth Games (CWG) 2022 on Friday, July 29 when they take on Ghana in the opening match of Group B. Ahead of the competition, the side were further boosted by the news that their team skipper Manpreet Singh will be carrying the country's flag at the opening ceremony of the mega sporting event being hosted in Birmingham, England.
Ahead of the opening ceremony, the halfback shared his delight at this special opportunity for a second time, having been selected as a flag bearer at the Tokyo Olympics as well. "Very happy to be the flag bearer for India. It's a proud feeling for me. I got a chance at the Olympics as well. The training has been good as well. We recently played a match as well and we have prepared a lot. The confidence level of the team is very high. The team is ready," The 30-year-old told Sports Tak in an exclusive interview.
'Even I learn a lot from him'
Manpreet also spoke highly of veteran goalkeeper PR Sreejesh, who will take part in his third and final Commonwealth Games, "He is the seniormost player in the team. So whenever he is goalkeeping we get a lot of motivation. He is always guiding us off and on the field. His being with us is very helpful; we get to learn a lot, especially the youngsters. Even I get to learn a lot from him. Whenever he is goalkeeping there is a lot of communication and we got a lot of support in front."
'Pool games are the first priority'
India faces hosts England, Canada, and Wales respectively in the group stages, but the real challenge will be to get past six-time CWG champions Australia. Unfazed by the challenge, Manpreet explained, "Honestly, we are not concentrating much on Australia. Because the group stages are more important for us. Because unless we do well in the group stages then only we will reach the final. Currently, we are concentrating on the Pool matches and after that, we will give our best for every match."
Emphasis on penalty corners a must
Adding to this, he emphasised the importance of penalty corners, and especially the role of the dragflickers like Harmanpreet Singh and Amit Rohidas, to new a couple. "Penalty corners will be extremely important for us because we have one of the best dragflickers in the world in our team. So, the more we use them the more it will benefit us. So we are concentrating on that nowadays.
"In the pro league Harman (Harmanpreet Singh) was quite good, he scored some good goals. Our idea is that even if we are not able to score, we can try to create penalty corners and try to score," he said.
