Abhishek curbs his flashiness for the team’s common goal

When Abhishek Nain was named Player-of-the-Tournament at the Asia Cup hockey, it was an acknowledgement of his contribution to the Indian team’s title triumph. There are no published statistics in hockey for assists and final passes but the 26-year-old clearly played a much bigger role than the six goals he scored.

As part of an Indian forward line guilty of being erratic and profligate early on, Abhishek’s role kept changing through the tournament and he kept adapting. Playing wide on the outside or closer to the centre, as a feeder or a poacher, he impressed everywhere.

For a while now, Abhishek has been India’s best striker, even on the disappointing Pro League tour, despite his penchant to go for flamboyance. That brought in criticism with many questioning his attitude at the cost of the team’s chances. In the last three games, he curbed his flashiness, linked up better and was duly rewarded. But his aggression and desire to constantly push forward remained.

“It’s not about me, it’s the team, we planned a strategy, stuck to it and were able to execute it,” he said after the final about his changing roles. But his disappointment every time he missed a shot was clearly visible, almost like he was angry with himself. It was also visible when he spoke after the big win against China.

“Khundak kha ke aye the because last match inke sath thoda up-down tha, prove karna tha (it was a grudge match because of the last match against them, we had to prove what we are actually capable of),” Abhishek said. “Today we were able to do what we wanted from day one, show our real game and potential,” he said.

Holding that grudge, he admitted after the triumph, was very important for success. “All the hard work we do, if we don’t get the results for it or replicate our training and plans in competition, then all of it is of no use, it’s wasted. And wasting blood and sweat should always hurt,” he declared.

Which is why, when asked if the opposition matters in grudge matches, he chose to focus on the bigger challenges. “It is important to move on from disappointments but it is also important to learn from them. The Pro League was disappointing but we learnt. The target now is the World Cup, the opposition doesn’t matter to us. This Indian team is focused on its own game and performance and getting better.”