Honoured to be compared with Dhoni but I'm not calm like him: Hockey captain Harmanpreet
The Hindu
Harmanpreet Singh said he is not as calm as Dhoni, but honoured to be compared. Aggressiveness on hockey turf comes naturally. India won 4th Asian Games gold, aiming to better Tokyo Olympic bronze. Players motivated by feats, bonding and competition for places augur well.
Asian Games-winning Indian men's hockey team captain Harmanpreet Singh doesn't fancy comparisons with the legendary Mahendra Singh Dhoni and feels he is not as calm on the ground as the cricket legend was.
Harmanpreet was compared to Dhoni by hockey great Dhanraj Pillay but the star drag-flicker begs to differ.
"On ground, I am never calm. I am aggressive unlike Dhoni but off the field, I try to remain as calm as possible," Harmanpreet said during a visit to PTI headquarters in New Delhi on October 10.
Dhoni, who led India to the 2011 ODI World Cup title, is known as 'Captain Cool' for his calm demeanour during pressure situations.
Harmanpreet feels aggressiveness on the hockey turf comes to him naturally but he is honoured to have been compared with Dhoni.
"Aggressiveness is must in my game but I am honoured to have been compared with the great Dhoni. But I don't feel I that calm on the pitch." Leading from the front, Harmanpreet returned as India's top scorer in the Asian Games with 13 goals.
The ticket to Paris Olympic secured, the monkey is off the back of the India men's hockey team and a relieved Harmanpreet has now trained his eyes on bettering the colour of the medal they won in Tokyo.
Asian Games champion Avinash Sable opened his season in the 3000m steeple chase with a silver in the Portland Track Festival, a World Athletics Continental Tour bronze event, in Oregon on Saturday. He clocked 8:21.85s. Asian champion Parul Chaudhary took the bronze in the women’s 3000m steeple chase in a season-best 9:31.38s. Former Asian bronze medallist Sanjivani Jadhav struck gold in the women’s 10,000m in 32:22.77s, a time which was a second off her personal best, while Seema was sixth in 32:55.91s.