Editor’s note: This article was originally published in 2022.
In came the lightning-quick drag-flick, and PR Sreejesh, as always, was there to calmly paw the ball away to safety. In those six seconds, fear, turned to relief, turned to joy as India won its first Olympic medal in hockey in 41 years. The replay has been played, and replayed, (and watched yet again) across television channels and social media posts.
But in that single defensive routine, there was an important run made, perhaps unsung, by Amit Rohidas. Rated the world’s best first rusher, he charged out to narrow the channels for Germany’s penalty-corner specialists to the point that the only option of getting a shot on target was to place it well within Sreejesh’s reach.
To the Western Railway hockey team’s head coach Sunil Kumar, that move aptly represents Rohidas – India’s new captain.
“As a person, he will speak when spoken to and say no more than what needs to be said. That’s how he plays too,” Kumar said to Scroll.in.
“He plays for the team, to fulfil his duties and not really look out for himself. He’s a silent warrior. He’s the kind of player you don’t know is playing, but when he’s not on the pitch, you feel something is missing.”
Now, however, as Kumar noted, Rohidas will have to make his presence felt a little bit more in the team. “He’ll need to speak up now. It’s the responsibility of the captain.”
On Friday, a day ahead of India’s FIH Pro League tie against Argentina, national coach Graham Reid announced that the 28-year-old will don the captain’s armband for the first time.
“Bahut accha lag raha hai. I couldn’t have ever imagined I’d one day be captain, I’m very happy,” Rohidas said during a virtual press conference, betraying a few smiles on his otherwise stoic face.
That straight-faced expression is the one that Kumar knows and remembers all too well. It’s the same one Rohidas wore when he first came to Mumbai to play for the Western Railway in the early 2010s.
“He was a raw player back then, brimming with talent that needed to be polished. But he had that focus that was probably instilled from the mindset he had. He never once forgot where he came from, the hardships his family faced, or how they got through those tough times,” Kumar said.
“He won an Asian Games medal, an Olympic medal… par Amit woh hi purana Amit jaisa raha.”
Born in Sundargarh, Odisha – the same village three-time Olympian Dilip Tirkey hailed from - Rohidas took up the sport hoping to follow in the former India great’s footsteps. His father toiled on farmlands to make ends meet, but was unable to ensure his daughter’s education due to financial struggles.
The young Rohidas took it upon himself to find a better living for his family. In fact, the story goes that he used his first paycheck of Rs 16 lakhs from the erstwhile Hockey India League to fund his sister’s education.
But that was at the same time he had been struggling to break into the senior team after a brief stint in 2013.
“I was out of the senior camp from 2014 to 2017 and that was a difficult time for me,” Rohidas said.
“The comeback to the senior team was difficult, but I had to have the belief that I could do it. I worked hard and started to improve, and my friends and family kept pushing me to work hard and not let down.”
Kumar was there close at hand to see those skills develop.
“His defensive skills improved drastically. He started to anticipate attackers’ moves and made interceptions,” the coach explained. “In the Indian team that time, they had defenders like Rupinder Pal Singh, Birendra Lakra, Harmanpreet Singh, all big players. So Amit had to become a strong player to break into that team.”
And he did.
Rohidas’ composure and awareness has helped him become one of the Indian team’s most trusted players. And then there’s his role as the first rusher.
While defending a penalty corner routine, the first rushers – as the name suggests – is the first defender to charge towards the drag-flicker. Often the defender is left at the mercy of the direction of the ball struck over 100 kmph. It’s a brutal task, but one that Rohidas does better than any other player in the world.
“I used to do it from the start, but without much technical knowledge. I got better once I made it to the junior national team,” he said.
“You do get hurt, but you have to handle it. I’ve been doing it for years, so I feel good to put myself at risk for the team. That’s my team, that’s my duty. It’s a suicide run, darr nahi lagna chahiye. The ball can hit you anywhere. Par josh ke saath hosh bhi hona chahiye.”
The ‘hosh’ is the strategy the defenders and goalkeeper make, about what angle to rush towards in order to narrow the gap for the drag-flicker, so as to force the flicker to shoot in a direction the goalkeeper can cover easily.
That’s what happened against Germany in the bronze-medal match at Tokyo last year.
The blows to the body can be brutal, but Rohidas has risen every time, ready to take another beating for his team, ready to be the first to break out of goal for his team.
On Saturday and Sunday, against Argentina, the first rusher will have a new role to fulfil. He will be the one leading his team out onto pitch at the Kalinga Stadium.