NEW DELHI During his junior days, Jarmanpreet Singh was touted as the next big thing in Indian hockey. A sturdy player, skilful and possessing the ability to rapidly create chances from the right flank made the defender an automatic choice in the Indian junior team after his debut in 2011.

A product of Jalandhar’s Surjit Singh Hockey Academy – it is named after the late India skipper and member of the 1975 World Cup-winning side – Jarmanpreet was also picked for the Punjab franchise of the now-halted Hockey India League (HIL) as an 18-year-old, earning a chance to play alongside the world’s best players.

Then his world fell apart. A failed dope test led to a two-year ban in January 2015. An injection administered by a doctor in his village in Punjab for lower back pain proved the undoing, taking away a precious phase in his burgeoning career. A return to hockey looked bleak.

“A ban means you can’t play competitive hockey at any level. It was the darkest phase of my career. There were so many uncertainties. Players don’t usually emerge from a setback like this,” Jarmanpreet, who turns 28 on Thursday, said.

He had to bide his time. While his peers went on to play for India, Jarmanpreet went back to his village Rajdhan in Amritsar district, where he kept fit by practicing with his brother and childhood coaches. “I was persistent. I just wanted to bounce back,” he said.

When Jarmanpreet returned to the domestic circuit in early 2017, he did find support from colleagues and then India coach Harendra Singh, who now coaches the women’s team.

The right-back resumed his life in hockey, playing domestic tournaments. To the surprise of the selectors and Harendra, Jarmanpreet showed at the Nationals that he hadn’t lost his touch and was included among the 50 core probables a year later. Jarmanpreet made his India debut less than 18 months after his return, at the 2018 Champions Trophy where he helped India win silver in Breda, The Netherlands.

However, Jarmanpreet could not impress Harendra’s successor, Australian Graham Reid, who benched the defender for most of his tenure – the Income Tax inspector played only 23 games in his first four years in international hockey. His biggest disappointment came when he missed the cut for the 2021 Tokyo Olympics, left to watch his peers celebrate a bronze, India’s first Olympic hockey medal in 41 years.

“Every player lives in the hope of playing in the Olympics; there was disappointment. If you don’t get selected despite working hard for so many years (there will be),” said the player who now has 106 India caps.

His fortune changed when Craig Fulton succeeded Reid. Jarmanpreet became a regular in India’s starting eleven, playing 35 games in 2023 – he helped India win the Asian Champions Trophy and the Asian Games. He has turned out 21 times in the India jersey so far this year. With Fulton’s backing, he started working harder on the field and off it.

“I’ve worked a lot in the gym to build my strength. On the field, my reading of the game is much better. I analysed my weaknesses and worked on them. The first thing I did was to understand structures better from my coaches and seniors, like shifting from zonal hockey to man-to-man depending on the opposition we are playing.”

Fulton’s ‘defend to win’ philosophy has given Jarmanpreet a new lease of life; there is more importance in the backline and he has a bigger role to play in attack. It has also seen him emerge as perhaps the team’s most improved player in the last couple of years.

“Coach believes that the flank defender will join the attack. You must have seen that the defence is joining the attack a lot more now, especially from the flanks. Often I have to go deep in defence, many times I stay in the midfield. My ability to switch my game according to demand has been the key to my improvement.”

Finally, his Olympic dream fructified when he was named on June 26 in India’s 16-member squad for the Paris Games. It was double delight as the same day his wife gave birth to their daughter.

“Both the news came the same day. It is a big thing for me to get selected for the Olympics after all the hardship. Every player dreams of playing in the Olympics. I have got this opportunity. I hope to make it count by taking India to the podium in Paris,” Jarmanpreet concluded.

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