“I teach the players the knack of scoring goals, how to receive the ball, how to score from rebounds.”

Shivendra Singh.
| Photo Credit: M. VEDHAN

CHENNAI

Shivendra Singh was a flamboyant striker and a natural crowd-puller in his heyday. With over 160 Internationals and around 80 strikes to his credit, he was one of the finest goal-scorers for India.

Now, as part of the coaching staff of the Indian hockey team at the Asian Champions Trophy here, Shivendra’s role is multi-fold. Apart from the coaching duties, the 40-year-old is the manager, and at times, the goalkeeping coach too.

“At the moment, I am enjoying it. I love hockey. So I am surviving,” Shivendra told The Hindu. “I teach the players the knack of scoring goals, how to receive the ball, how to score from rebounds. In fact, I explain to them everything.”

Shivendra said he has been actively coaching the goalkeepers for the past one year.

“I am learning from them [goalkeepers]. I practice with P.R. Sreejesh every day. Also, I have worked in special camps for ’keepers. Recently, we had a camp with goalkeeping coach Dennis van de Pol of Netherlands.”

‘Chennai is special’

Even though he has played in many parts of India and across the globe, Chennai has a special place in Shivendra’s heart. It was here that India won the Asia Cup in 2007 and he was one of the architects of the triumph.

The local crowd was in full attendance, rooting for India in every match. Shivendra was in his prime then, scoring 13 goals in the tournament.

“Chennai is always special. That [Asia Cup] will remain the best final of my career [beating Korea 7-2 in the title clash]. Prabhjot Singh scored 15 goals, Raghunath 13, Tushar [Khandekar] 10 and Rajpal [Singh] nine. We did well because we had speedy forwards and great coordination. Our counters were good and so were the rebounds.”

In the Asia Cup, Dilip Tirkey, now Hockey India president, was the man who kept the team’s excitement under check. “Whenever we had the momentum and were bursting with energy, Dilip bhai asked us to control our exuberance and warned us not to be over-confident. He was experienced and was always calm,” said Shivendra.

Support of fans

In only his second International tournament in India at the 2007 Asia Cup, the centre-forward said the fans’ support for the sport in Chennai was something he hadn’t seen in any other part of the country before. “They love the sport, support and understand it,” he said.