Asian Games-winning Indian men’s hockey team captain Harmanpreet Singh doesn’t fancy comparisons with the legendary Mahendra Singh Dhoni and feels he is not as calm on the ground as the cricket legend was.
Harmanpreet was compared to Dhoni by hockey great Dhanraj Pillay but the star drag-flicker begs to differ.
“On ground, I am never calm. I am aggressive unlike Dhoni but off the field, I try to remain as calm as possible,” Harmanpreet said during a visit to PTI headquarters here on Tuesday.
Dhoni, who led India to the 2011 ODI World Cup title, is known as ‘Captain Cool’ for his calm demeanour during pressure situations.
Harmanpreet feels aggressiveness on the hockey turf comes to him naturally but he is honoured to have been compared with Dhoni.
“Aggressiveness is must in my game but I am honoured to have been compared with the great Dhoni. But I don’t feel I that calm on the pitch.”
Leading from the front, Harmanpreet returned as India’s top scorer in the Asian Games with 13 goals.
The ticket to Paris Olympic secured, the monkey is off the back of the India men’s hockey team and a relieved Harmanpreet has now trained his eyes on bettering the colour of the medal they won in Tokyo.
A dominant India thrashed Japan 5-1 in the final to clinch their fourth Asian Games gold medal in Hangzhou on last Friday, thereby directly qualifying for Paris Olympics.
