PR Sreejesh, the legendary former Indian hockey goalkeeper, has expressed his admiration for former India cricket coach Rahul Dravid’s coaching philosophy and hopes to follow a similar path in mentoring the next generation of hockey players.

Sreejesh envisions a role where he can contribute to the development of a robust feeder system for the national hockey team, much like Dravid did for Indian cricket. By working closely with the country's junior and emerging talents, Sreejesh aims to groom the future stars of Indian hockey, ensuring a continuous supply of top-tier players to the senior team.

Drawing inspiration from Dravid's journey, which began with nurturing India’s U-19 and A teams before leading the senior side, Sreejesh is open to taking on a similar role within the hockey setup.

"I want to become a coach. That was always my plan but now there is a question of when. After retirement, family comes first. I need to talk with them if they are OK with this. Now you have to listen to your wife a little bit," Sreejesh told PTI.

"The way I wanted is start with the juniors, and Rahul Dravid is an example. It's like you develop a bunch of players, get them into the senior team and let them follow you," he said.

Sreejesh's roadmap

Sreejesh aspires to start at the grassroots level, eventually working his way up to the position of chief national coach by the time the 2032 Brisbane Olympics arrive. The former goalkeeper believes that by investing in the development of young talent, India can build a formidable team capable of competing at the highest level for years to come.

"I start this year, next in 2025, we have the junior World Cup and in another two years, the senior team will be playing the World Cup. So may be, by 2028, I can produce 20 or 40 players and by 2029, I can have 15-20 players into the senior team and by 2030 almost like 30-35 players in the senior side.

"And 2032, I will be ready for the chief coach's position. If India gets to host the 2036 Olympic Games, I want to be the India coach," Sreejesh said.

The former goalkeeper played a crucial role in India's bronze medal win at the recently-concluded Olympics in Paris. Sreejesh was also a part of the team that won bronze in the Tokyo Olympics three years ago.