Jasmine Kaur does not get to see her father Manpreet Singh often these days, but she always knows where he is.
“Khelne gaye hai [he has gone to play],” is her immediate answer, according to Singh.
Through Kaur’s eyes, who is not yet three, Singh’s career is somewhat simplified to him just running around and hitting a ball with a stick. She is not yet old enough to grasp the idea that her father is one of finest hockey players in modern hockey.
She was not even born when Singh led the Indian team to a bronze medal finish at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, ending the country’s 41-year wait for an Olympic medal in hockey.
But in just over a week, when the Indian team begins its campaign at the Paris Olympic Games, she will provide the added motivation for Singh to achieve greater heights with the Indian team.
“It makes me want to do better,” Singh told Scroll at the Sports Authority of India’s Bengaluru campus before the Indian team departed for Paris. “When my daughter comes to watch me play, I want to do better for her.
“I want to win more so that when she grows up, she will be proud of what her father achieved.”
A lot has happened since that fateful day in Tokyo. Singh was conferred with the Arjuna Award in 2021 and led India to a silver-medal finish at the 2022 Commonwealth Games before stepping down as captain of the team. Like veteran goalkeeper PR Sreejesh – also a former captain of the Indian team – Singh has become an elder statesman of the team now led by Harmanpreet Singh.
Singh, now 32, has also seen his role in the Indian team change under new head coach Craig Fulton. An elegant midfielder with the ability to cut through opposition defences and set up as well as score goals, Singh has often been deployed in a hybrid defensive role by Fulton where the Jalandhar-native has turned out eye-catching performances.
His transition into a deeper role is in a similar vein to the what Italian football star Andrea Pirlo underwent. Towards the end of his career, Pirlo had transformed into a deep-lying playmaker where his composure with the ball and eye for defence-splitting passes made him a lynchpin for his club Juventus and the Italian men’s national team.
Singh has evolved similarly for India over the past 12 months. The former India captain is able to put his superior passing skills to good use, be it playing short line-breaking passes towards his fellow midfielders or floating in long aerial balls towards the wings.
“I haven’t had to make too many changes under Fulton,” Singh said. “I have the freedom to use my skills. I think communication is the key for me to be able to play in defence and attack. I know what to ask of forwards when I am playing in midfield and from midfielders when I am in defence.”
There is no doubt that the transition has only been possible due to Singh’s quality on the ball and his communication skills. His willingness to play deeper not only allows him to scan the length of the pitch to orchestrate India’s attacks, but it also allows the young midfield duo of Hardik Singh and Vivek Sagar Prasad to operate higher up the pitch.
“Midfielders like the ball being played quickly to them from defence,” said Singh. “That prevents the other team from closing down on them quickly. It allows our midfielders more time to find the right pass. In defence, I can see how the teams are set up and I can guide my teammates accordingly.”
Singh will embark on his fourth Olympic campaign in Paris along with Sreejesh, a rare feat among Indian athletes. In the Indian contingent in Paris, only table tennis star Achanta Sharath Kamal, competing in his fifth Olympic Games, will have made more appearances at the Summer Olympics than the hockey duo.
Singh was quick to play it down, jokingly saying that that was all it needed for his younger teammates to poke fun at him for being too old.
“Eventful,” is how he chose to describe his Olympic journey. He made his debut at the 2012 London Games as a 19-year-old and grew to be an integral part of the team in the next two editions held at Rio de Janeiro in 2016 and Tokyo in 2021.
His Olympic career has seen a welcome climb for the Indian team after a drastic fall at the turn of the century. The Indian team had not qualified for the Beijing Olympics in 2008. In London, where Singh made his debut, the team finished a disappointing 12th place having lost all their matches. The team moved up to eight in Rio before Tokyo marked the pinnacle of Singh’s Olympic journey.
He asserted that he would love nothing more than ensuring the upward trajectory continues in Paris where hopefully he will find himself on the top step of the podium.
Through all the highs and lows of playing hockey for India, Singh has always managed to stay hungry.
“It’s all about the mindset,” he said. “You should never be happy with yourself. I always want to do better for the team and for myself. Because when you retire, this career is all you have to look back upon.”
When Singh eventually does call time from the sport, he will go down as one of the greatest midfielders of his generation. But for him, there will be no better way to cement his legacy than helping India win gold in front of his biggest fan, his daughter.
