00:00Honour talking to you because of what you have done throughout your career.
00:04Now tell me this, how is this team unique from the earlier work that you have done
00:10and what makes this team so special to you?
00:13I think this team is the team that I worked with up until the Olympics.
00:18Obviously this is slightly different.
00:19There's one or two senior players with a lot of caps have moved on.
00:22There's some younger players.
00:24So this team is going through a little bit of a rebuilding.
00:27They need to find their feet both as a team, the connections with each other.
00:32So at this moment it's really about helping the building phase,
00:36creating the new team, getting really bedded down the team culture, the team environment.
00:41And the players have just come in helping them to manage their minds a little bit
00:45and start to discuss the concepts of distraction management and mental coaching.
00:50So coming to distraction management, you know, like this year,
00:53when you look at last year, it was a brilliant year for Indian hockey.
00:57This year started off on a very bad note.
00:59And then you have had a very tough game against China
01:02and then you followed it up with a better performance against Japan.
01:06So in those kind of circumstances, how do you work?
01:09How do you come in and tell that, okay, we understand that you're going through a rough phase,
01:14but this is what you need to do.
01:15How do you work with that?
01:17So the big thing is for me is to focus on the process.
01:20And I know it's the same with the coaches.
01:22What are the kind of strategies we're needing to follow?
01:25What are the kind of training, the preparation, the strategies?
01:29How well are we connecting as players?
01:30So it's really about the process as opposed to the results.
01:34Of course, the public focus on the results, but we tend to focus on the processes.
01:40And we know there's no team that is 9, 10 out of 10.
01:44You only want to be at 10, playing at 9 out of 10 or more in finals,
01:48in the really big tournaments.
01:49In the other tournaments, it's about building, laying the foundation,
01:53trying different combinations.
01:55So we were quite happy, obviously, getting the results with China and Japan games
02:01and weren't too concerned.
02:03We know we didn't play our best.
02:04The players knew they didn't play their best.
02:07But really good teams, they cannot play their best and still win,
02:11which is a sign of this being a good team.
02:13So how does this team keep you on your toes?
02:16Like how are they, you know, on the field, we know that they're one of the best teams out there.
02:21But off the field, how do they interact with you?
02:23And how do they keep you on your toes and make you learn as well?
02:28I think one of the big things is I don't know very much about hockey.
02:31So for me already, that's a really steep learning curve.
02:34I'm fascinated to learn about the game.
02:37Personally, having, this is only the second time I've worked in hockey,
02:41I can't understand why hockey is not more popular, why more people don't watch.
02:46I think the physical skill is truly remarkable.
02:49The speed of the game is remarkable.
02:51The amount of preparation and the training these players put into being able to go for 60 minutes
02:58at the speed and intensity they go.
03:00It really is a genuine high-performance sport.
03:03And this team, they are super fit.
03:06They're super detailed.
03:07They're unbelievably skilled.
03:09So for me, it's just so amazing to be part of such a high-performing team.
03:14I'm learning a lot.
03:15There's, I'm understanding the psychology of hockey where, you know, it's a team sport.
03:22Pricket's a team sport, but it's more individual hockey.
03:25You have to connect.
03:26Five, six players need to connect perfectly in flow to be able to get the ball into the back of the net, for example.
03:32So there's a lot to learn and the language barrier as well.
03:36There's always a challenge for me to get my message across when not everyone is as fluent in English.
03:41Unfortunately, I'm not fluent in Hindi either.
03:43So that keeps me on our toes.
03:45How do I get the message across that it lands with all players, regardless of their language?
03:50And, you know, when I was talking to the coach yesterday,
03:52he said his dream is to see this team probably one day win the Olympic gold and the World Cup.
03:58So do you feel, after interacting with these players,
04:00that they have that mentality in them to go and win both of them?
04:05Yes, this team has got what it takes.
04:08Also, the coach particularly has got that long-term view, which is great.
04:12I think it's important that a coach has that.
04:14If the coach is focusing one game at a time and having short-term views, that's really not very smart.
04:19So Craig is one of the smartest coaches that I've ever come across in terms of how his planning,
04:25his strategy, his long-term thinking.
04:27So the plan is, obviously, to do well at this tournament, qualify for the World Cup
04:31and then put all the building blocks in place.
04:33But this team is fit enough, there's enough skill, there's enough depth within Indian hockey
04:38and certainly the coaching staff and the leadership.
04:41There is everything it takes to be able to win World Cups and Olympic golds in this team.
04:46And it's just a case of putting it together excellently because the reality is
04:49there's also four or five other teams out there in the world who also have all the ingredients.
04:54And it's a case of who puts it together best in the lead-up to those really big tournaments
04:59and the key moments in those big tournaments.
05:01And that's what we'll be focusing on.
05:02And I know I've taken a lot of time from you.
05:05Maybe last one fun question to ask.
05:08The Indian team that you worked in cricket or this hockey team, which is your favourite at the moment?
05:13No, you can't even compare the two teams.
05:16I wouldn't even begin to compare them.
05:18It's just a completely different sport.
05:20What I'd love to do is bring the cricket team to come and do a half a training session with a hockey team.
05:29And I think you'll see the cricket team will all be lying on the floor.
05:31The only person who will last more than half a training session would be Virat, I think.
05:35So that's the one massive difference that I noticed.
05:38These guys are, there are 18 Virat Kohli's from a fitness perspective,
05:44where in the cricket team there's only one Virat Kohli from a fitness perspective.
05:47Sir, it's, like I said, an honour talking to you.
05:52Thanks for sharing this time and all the best.
05:54Thanks for sharing this time and all the best.
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