Rajkumar Pal bagged the limelight at the Paris Olympics when he scored the fourth and final goal in the penalty shootout for India in the quarterfinals against Great Britain. Hailing from Ghazipur in Uttar Pradesh, he made his international debut for India in February 2020 in the FIH Pro League. Although he couldn't make the cut for Tokyo, he qualified for Paris and was part of the team that won its second consecutive Olympic bronze.
Rajkumar speaks to Times Now about his emotions after beingpicked for the Paris Olympics, his mindset during the shootout against Britain, and the lessons the retiring PR Sreejesh gave him. Excerpts:
Having played for India for almost three years, how has your experience been with the senior Indian team at the Olympics?
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My experience at the Olympics, which was my first, has been quite good. I was a bit tense about the big-stage pressure, but the senior players were supportive. I kept improving with every passing match, and my confidence increased as well.
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What was your first reaction when you were picked for the Paris Olympics?
After the team was announced, I first called up my family. I couldn't travel to Tokyo but I kept working hard and when I cracked the team this time, I was thrilled.
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Before you were about toscore in the penalty shootout in the quarterfinal against Great Britain, what was your mindset like?
I told myself that shootout was my happy hunting ground. I scored in the shootout against New Zealand last year in the World Cup and derived some confidence from that. My teammates reassured me that I was best at this and I could easily do it. We had an advantage so there wasn't a lot of pressure. I stuck to my basics and didn't overthink the situation.
After a loss in the semifinals, what was the conversation in the dressing room?
I think we played well against Germany in the semifinals. There was a bit of regret and probably it wasn't our day. We did try to make a comeback in the final minutes but it just didn't happen. The only conversation was that although we couldn't win gold anymore, we had to finish third. All of us wanted to dedicate the medal to Sreejesh bhai since it was to be his last match.
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The team bonding had been top-notch at the Olympics and we just motivated each other and promised to back ourselves.
Did you have any conversations with PR Sreejesh? Did he leave you with any advice?
Personally, Sreejesh bhai told me that I was doing well and asked me to continue the good work. He told me not to let go of hope in any situation and keep working on myself. He added that I could do even better than what I am already doing and just focus and improve on my weak points.
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The Asian Champions Trophy is about to begin and the pool is very different from what it was in Paris. What is the preparation like?
We are working more on techniques now since the turnover period after returning from Paris and travelling again to China is much less. Asian teams play differently than European teams. We are focusing more on penalty corner conversions.