The talented midfielder is using the Hockey India League platform to FIGHT HIS WAY BACK into the Indian team.
Gurbaj Singh is controversy’s favourite child. But controversy is something that the former India hockey player dislikes, and he has had little or no role to play in the disputes that have been linked to him.
Gurbaj’s induction into the national team, at the age of 18, for the 2006 Asian Games was nothing short of a trial by fire. He had come in as a replacement for the experienced and widely popular Viren Rasquinha, who retired subsequently. Since then, Gurbaj has repeatedly been tested, trialled and declared guilty of things, the lanky midfielder insists, he wasn’t even aware of. However, each time, he came out of these testing times stronger and more determined to prove himself.
“I don’t know why it all happens with me. I didn’t plan my selection in 2006. I was not the only one to be below-par or disappointed with the performance in 2012 (Olympics). I was cracking jokes with other players after training in 2015 when the indiscipline issue came up again. No team-mate of mine has ever said I misbehaved with them. Still, it all comes back to me,” shrugs Gurbaj, as he sits down for a tete-atete with Sportstar.
It was Gurbaj’s fitness that helped him make his debut for India in 2006, at the Asian Games. And, once again, it is his fitness that makes people shake their heads in wonder. “Even today, when I make the players here do the sprints before or after a match, he is the fastest and often the only one to reach the last level. Even the big foreign names wonder at his stamina. Not many can match him,” says Harendra Singh, the coach of Ranchi Rays in the Hockey India League (HIL).
Esta historia es de la edición February 25, 2017 de Sportstar.
Comience su prueba gratuita de Magzter GOLD de 7 días para acceder a miles de historias premium seleccionadas y a más de 9,000 revistas y periódicos.
Ya eres suscriptor ? Conectar
Esta historia es de la edición February 25, 2017 de Sportstar.
Comience su prueba gratuita de Magzter GOLD de 7 días para acceder a miles de historias premium seleccionadas y a más de 9,000 revistas y periódicos.
Ya eres suscriptor? Conectar
Tokyo Marathon Cancelled For Amateurs On Coronavirus Fears
Organisers in Japan cancelled the amateur portion of the Tokyo marathon, affecting around 38,000 runners, on fears about the spread of the new coronavirus in Japan.
Right Criteria To Pick The Tennis GOAT
What should the criteria be? What weight should be attached to each criterion? And what should not be considered as valid criteria?
The making of a batting behemoth
If Steve Smith dominated the Ashes in England in a dramatic, blockbuster fashion then his like for like a replacement, Marnus Labuschagne, is the Next Big Thing after an exciting summer of run-glut.
WHEN ACES WERE REWARDED...
It was an evening of nostalgia and celebration when the Sportstar Aces awards were given away in Mumbai.
A question of recognition
After a week of awards, one wonders if it’s only a departed player that one will be named after.
Thinking straight, thinking right!
“A lot depends on when I am bowling and what is required from me. That’s something I do when I play for India and I try to follow the same thing in the domestic circuit,” says Yuzvendra Chahal.
The Big Three and the Next Gen
Though the Big Three are very unlikely to retire during the same year, Judy Murray, mother of Andy, echoed the sentiments of many fans worried about the impact of their departures.
WAKING UP TO MENTAL HEALTH
Sport at large and cricket specifically has taken an inordinately long time to address the elephant in the room — the dark abyss of depression.
Like sunshine in a gloomy dressing room
Bangladesh quick Abu Jayed Rahi is new in the red-ball arena, but his swing brings back old memories — of James Anderson on green tops.
The league of the masses
With traditional clubs locking horns with the hard-working nurseries of the game, the I-League will continue to keep the beating heart of Indian football alive despite official apathy.
