NEW DELHI: Two penalty shootout attempts, when compared, can tell the story of Harmanpreet Singh‘s transformation from a player who virtually thought of walking away to becoming one of the world’s best defenders and, now, the recipient of India’s highest sporting honour — the Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna award.
At the 2023 World Cup in Rourkela, an all-at-sea Harmanpreet tried to beat the New Zealand goalkeeper Leon Hayward in a one-on-one shootout without even getting near him. He missed, India lost and the skipper received majority of the flak for his repeated failures on drag-flicks.
At the 2024 Paris Olympics, Harmanpreet was challenged by the Great Britain custodian Ollie Payne to go past him in the shootout. Beating him with a 180-degree turn, the India captain sounded the board and gave Payne the ‘have some brains’ sign.
In 2025, the Junior World Cup winner is also a two-time Olympic medallist, Asian Games gold medallist, three-time FIH Player of the year, the top-scorer of the Paris Olympics, a Khel Ratna winner and arguably the world’s best drag-flicker.
How did Harmanpreet turn it around? India’s latest Khel Ratna awardee told TimesofIndia.com in an exclusive chat about all that and his life around hockey.
You are just the sixth hockey player to win the Khel Ratna. Does it swell the pride further?
If I see my journey, it’s been fabulous. To win the Khel Ratna after winning the Olympic medal is a proud moment for me. There’s a lot of hard work behind this, dedication and support of my teammates, my family and our federation, which has supported me from day one.
Many who are close to you feel that after the birth of your daughter, luck has shone on you, making you a better player…
It’s very true. You must have listened to that Punjabi song, ‘Haque di mai khavan chahe thodi hi hove, fer bhavein zehar di oh pudi hi hove, end tak karugi pyar mainu ju, jado bacha hoya mere kudi hi hove (whenever I become a father, it should be a girl)’. See I sang a song too for you (smiles).
I always wanted my first child to be a daughter. Since the day she was born, there have been more happy moments in the family. She’s getting naughty now growing up. I can say that my life has changed since she arrived in our world.
You are currently playing for the Soorma Hockey Club in the Hockey India League (HIL) in its second avatar and were also part of the league from 2013 to 2017. How different is it from then to now?
I was a young player back then and didn’t have much knowledge. It was a learning phase for me, but HIL gave a platform that helped my game a lot. When you play the HIL as a youngster, you are rubbing shoulders with international players, both Indian and overseas. To learn from those players is a big thing. It helped me back then, helped my growth.
Now I am a senior. I have gathered some knowledge while still learning as much as I can. Now there are responsibilities I have to live up to, besides the expectations and guiding the young guns. I am enjoying it.
Where do you place the landmark 2016 Junior World Cup win in your career and how much being part of a World Cup-winning team helped you as a player?
A lot. Whatever time I have spent with Harendra (Singh) coach saab, the basics that we talk about, the amount of hard work he made us do, it has helped and is still helping in my journey, be it the drag-flick or as a defender. I think when we won the Junior World Cup, that particular journey was remarkable and taught me a lot.
Do you idolise anyone?
When I started hockey, I used to look up to Jugraj (Singh) paji. When I was at the academy, we used to go and watch his matches. I admired him, and still do. Of course, our bond is very strong now. He treats me as his younger brother.
Your career graph went from the 2023 World Cup disaster to becoming one of the best drag-flickers in the world who led India to an Olympic medal in Paris. Your thoughts.
That (2023 World Cup) was a tough time for me. When we lost that match (crossover game against New Zealand), I was totally shattered. I even thought ‘that’s it, my career was only this long’. But family’s support and teammates’ trust played a huge role, and mattered a lot. My team stood by me, from day one till now. That thing has been my strength. Of course, I re-focused, watched my videos, observed where I made mistakes and worked on that. I think as a result of all of that, I have been able to improve myself and do well now.
How tough is it to be a dragflicker?
Of course, it’s a very tough job individually as a drag-flicker because it’s getting very difficult for flickers (to score) in today’s hockey because of the quality of goalkeepers and first rushers (cutting angles and scoring opportunities on penalty corners). We have the world’s best first-rusher in Amit Rohidas. We try to have conversations with each other, trying to read each other’s mind. Like for me, when he rushes, what are his thoughts, his plans. That too helps.
The mention of Rohidas reminds of the quarter-final against Great Britain at the Paris Olympics. Playing with 10 men for 47 of the 60 minutes is unthinkable in modern hockey. But you guys not just held the Britishers to 1-1 in regulation time but also went on to win in the shootout. How did you pull that one off?
Since the day I started playing hockey, I had been hearing that India concedes a goal in the last minute, why can’t they fix this problem. I think that match has set an example for how to handle whatever happens in life or during a match, whatever the situation. We used to visualize (in practice sessions) what’s the worst we can face, a card or anything else — think about those things and simulate those situations in training, play with lesser players on one side and see what will be the reaction, structure, position-wise role. The trust and confidence within the team matters a lot in those situations.
When the Rohidas red card happened, the team’s energy went from 100% to 200%, like ‘koi gal ni (no worries)’. There was belief within the team that we’ll still win this match. We knew that now we will have to defend for most of the match, and every player came up and said, ‘this position is my responsibility, I won’t let the ball through’. That dedication was one of the great things, and it was one of the best matches for me, the team, entire India and history.
When we won, there were a lot of emotions. Some were crying, some yelling. Sumit took his shirt off in celebration; we had to tell him to control himself. It also involved a lot of hard work behind the scenes by our coaches, how smartly they trained us. We were very strong structure-wise.
There was also a moment when you had a verbal duel of sorts with the Great Britain goalkeeper. What were you guys talking about?
Not much. I was going to take the shootout, but because of some technical issue, I was asked to restart. When I was going back towards the 23-yard line, the goalkeeper tried to disturb me by saying, ‘I know what you would do and I won’t let you score’. I kept quiet then, but once I scored, I just told him, ‘See, you didn’t know’. I said a couple of words to him out of love (laughs).
(Photo Source: X)
What’s one career objective you want to achieve before you hang your stick?
Our targets are very clear — to further improve the team’s understanding and rhythm in the Pro League matches this season and win the Asia Cup to qualify for the World Cup. Our main objective 100% is the World Cup; hopefully we’ll win it. That’s our first target. Of course, the other dream is to win a gold medal at the Olympics. That pursuit is still on.
