It’s been nearly a month since PR Sreejesh has been awarded the captaincy and the opportunity to lead the Indian Hockey team at the Rio Olympics. But he has not worn the captain’s armband even once in the entire group stages. Then why was he named as the captain, some may wonder?

Sardar Singh also held the armband once against Ireland in the opener, and so did SV Sunil, V Raghunath and Manpreet Singh during the preliminary group stage of the competition.

PR Sreejesh lacks experience?

He has been appointed as the official captain quite recently, but he is not an inexperienced one at the job. Many of you would recall that it was under the leadership of Sreejesh that India made it to the finals of the Champions Trophy a couple of months back. India may have lost in the final, but it wasn’t without a hard fight taking the games to penalties.

So, the lack of experience does not count as a valid point here.

Senior players to hold captain’s armband

In a recent interview prior to the Olympic competition Sreejesh spoke about how his role as the captain is to develop leaders in every area of the pitch. He said, “captaincy will be shared by the senior players of the team”. A leader in the defence, midfield as well as in the forward line. That is one way of justifying the multiple captaincy tactics opted by the Indian coach Roelant Oltmans.  

This helps the team’s younger members look up to their senior compatriots for on-field matters. In this way the leader can lead from every part of the field unlike a stand-alone captain as witnessed in most sports.

But, is this the real reason why Sreejesh is not wearing the captain’s armband? One can’t be sure. So, what other reason could force a newly appointed captain to not wear the armband?

Perhaps, suspensions.

Suspension, really?

Well, for most sports fans, who are unaware about the rules in field hockey, will find “suspension” quite an absurd reason. But for the loyalists, they know how serious an issue suspension is in the sport. Especially, when it concerns the man guarding the goal post.

PR Sreejesh is not just a crucial member of the team but is also the major reason why the opposition attackers are unable to score. He is standing right in front of the net and guarding it for the Indian team. Now, imagine a circumstance when the team is playing without him on the pitch. That would make things a lot difficult for the team. And what if India is forced to play without anyone guarding the goal? After all, he is the only goalkeeper named in the Indian squad.

Many of you might think that is an impossible thing to happen. Not, really. In hockey, the captain could receive a suspension in case there is repeated offences from the team. It is unlikely that the Indian team would record repeated offences on the field. However, one cannot blame Roelant Oltmans to be on the cautious side of things. As such an incident could easily account for the whole difference between a win and what could have been a win.