Of Harjeet Singh's rise, fall and second chance

A day after the memorable night of December 18, 2016, when India lifted the 2016 Men's Junior Hockey World Cup at home, a photo of captain Harjeet Singh sleeping while clutching the trophy went viral on social media.

The soft-spoken boy, all of 20 then, said he never wanted to part ways with the trophy, the same kind of attachment he felt while playing hockey for his country.

But life isn't always a sweet dream, as Harjeet would soon wake up to realise.

Promoted to the senior national set-up to test the Punjab youngster's mettle, Harjeet couldn't replicate the spark he showed while leading the India colts.

The midfielder was not only dropped from the squad but also pushed into oblivion barely months after he turned into Indian hockey's overnight sensation.

Out of the national team's periphery for more than a year, Harjeet's fall was as steep and dramatic as his rise.

On Sunday, however, he took the first step towards climbing the long ladder once again. Harjeet has been named among the 60 probables for a month-long senior men's national training camp to be held in Bengaluru from Monday. The list will be pruned to 33 after a selection trial on April 20.

For now, though, the 23-year-old Harjeet is happy just to be back in the national reckoning.

"It has been a long wait," Harjeet told DNA from Delhi, pumped about heading to the Sports Authority of India centre in Bengaluru.

"I'm really happy to be given another chance. It has been more than a year that I have waited for this. Now I'm excited to go back," he added.

Difficult to handle lull after WC euphoria

Patience can come at a premium for any aspirational young sportsperson, let alone one who has tasted instant fame.

Hailing from Kurali, a small district in Mohali, Harjeet grew up in a humble background, with his father a truck driver.

The kid took a liking to hockey, while the talent was groomed at the famed Surjit Academy in Jalandhar. His promising hockey career began to take shape, and it shot to life during the 2016 Junior World Cup when Harjeet quenched the thirst of the country's hockey fans by leading India to a World Cup triumph in Lucknow.       

The shy boy made headlines everywhere — of his rags to riches tale, of him making tea for his teammates, of him being the soul of a successful squad.

Why, there was even a Punjabi movie made based on his life, titled Harjeeta, which released in May last year.

However, the noise around him quickly made way for an eerie silence.

"I found all that a bit too difficult to handle," Harjeet said. "I had won a World Cup not too long ago, and soon I was also out of the team and nowhere near the radar.

"People started talking, from within my close circle and even outside. Log bolte the, 'Harjeet kab khelega wapas?' (People would talk, 'when will Harjeet play again?'). I found that really hard to deal with," he added.

That's when the words of his beloved World Cup-winning coach and axed senior national coach, Harendra Singh, echoed in his ears.

"Harendra sir used to tell us, 'Joh bhi hamare haath mein nahi hai uske baare mein socho mat' ('Don't think about things that aren't in your control'). So, after a point, I realised there was no point in thinking about what people talk about me," Harjeet said.

Finding comfort in past glory

What also helped Harjeet was reliving his glory days to find some solace in darkness, like merely staring at that image where he is hugging the World Cup.

"Whatever I achieved in the past, like with the junior team, I would think about it, look back at those days. I would just look at photographs from those days and feel good about myself. Just staring at those memorable photos would instill so much positivity in me," he said.

Despite being upbeat, there was a fear that Harjeet might go the Unmukt Chand way, another junior World Cup-winning captain who was touted as the next big thing in Indian cricket but has since faded away.

"Yes, sometimes I would go into a negative space of mind, thinking why am I not making the cut. Pata nahi tha ki aisa bhi ho sakta hai (I didn't know things could go this way). But then I realised that is life. I would think, kabhi toh mauka milega (I'll get a chance some day)," Harjeet said.

Frequent talks with Harendra would also reinstill his belief.

"I spoke to Harendra sir a month ago, and he told me, 'Keep working hard, you will come back'," Harjeet said.

New opportunity, fresh chapter

However, not everyone around him was as optimistic as him and his former coach.

"My family was really worried. They do not know much about hockey, and they couldn't understand why their son was kept out of the team," Harjeet said.

"But now when I called my mother to tell her that my name is back in the list, she was relieved and happy, and so was my father.

"They told me, 'Thoda dhyaan rakh ke khel na, dobara mauka mila hai (you've got another chance, play carefully now). Don't let it go waste'. My mother, father and brother all told me the same thing, 'Forget whatever has happened in the past and begin a new journey'," Harjeet said.

Working on his game at the Surjit Academy over the past year, Harjeet promises to be back fitter, a more refined player and eager to start a fresh chapter while not basking in the glory of his illustrious old one.

"Whatever mistakes I have made before, I don't want to repeat them," Harjeet said.

"It's a new chapter for me, and it will be a little different for me this time because I've been out for a year. So, I feel it might be a bit difficult for me as things might have changed.

"But what hasn't changed is my love for hockey, and that will help me adjust to it," he added.

‘NEED TO ESTABLISH POTENTIAL IN TRIALS’

A total of 60 probables have been named for the senior men’s national camp which begins at the Sports Authority of India centre in Bengaluru on Monday. Apart from Harjeet Singh, his junior Indian teammates Santa Singh, Vikramjit Singh, Dipsan Tirkey, Manpreet (Junior) and Armaan Qureshi, who were not part of the previous national camp, too have been selected. “While most of the senior players from the previous 33 core probable group have made it to this list, they are aware that they need to establish their potential during the trials to ensure they are picked in the final list of players, who will stay on till May 5,” said Hockey India’s high performance director David John. “No one’s place in the team is guaranteed and this group is highly competitive with some fresh young talent who are expected to add depth.”