If India hockey goalkeeper Akash Chikte thought he had his share of stress in his successful attempts to safeguard India's goalpost during the Asia Cup semi-final against Pakistan last week and in the final the following day, there was more
If India hockey goalkeeper Akash Chikte thought he had his share of stress in his successful attempts to safeguard India's goalpost during the Asia Cup semi-final against Pakistan last week and in the final the following day, there was more. In a pleasant coincidence, Chikte ended being adjudged the goalkeeper of the tournament in Dhaka, Bangladesh on Sunday and was also picked as the joint Sportsman of the Year by the Sports Journalists' Association of Mumbai (SJAM) alongwith chess stalwart Vidit Gujrathi. The SJAM's prize distribution was scheduled at 4 pm on Monday. His flight from Delhi was scheduled to land at 16:06 hours, but there was a slight delay. Chikte touched down at 16:34 hours while the SJAM function had begun at the Bombay Gymkhana.
India hockey goalkeeper Akash Chikte (right) receives his award from State Sports Minister Vinod Tawde on Monday. Pic/Shadab Khan
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By the time this writer picked Chikte from the airport, it was 17:00 hours. Meanwhile, State Sports Minister Vinod Tawde, the chief guest of the function, agreed to wait for Chikte after giving away all the other awards including that of Gujrathi, who shared the honours with Chikte. The Pune-based hockey player may have played at the Mumbai Hockey Association turf often, but he was not familiar with different areas of Mumbai. "Where are we now," was a question he often asked me during our journey. "I don't want the function to get delayed because of me," he remarked as our driver maneuvered the Mumbai evening traffic in South Mumbai. Chikte was not only apprehensive of getting late. He also feared the media glare. "I hope the reporters won't ask me questions. I am very shy," he remarked.
Our car reached Bombay Gymkhana at 18:00 hours and Chikte was relieved that his hectic day which began early in the morning to board a Dhaka-Delhi flight, was approaching its end. Sports Minister Tawde did the honours and former India cricket captain Dilip Vengsarkar spent a few moments speaking to Chikte. He couldn't escape the media though and was urged by Sagar Singh Thakur, his coach at Bombay Engineering Group & Centre, Pune to meet the media. "It feels good to get this kind of treatment — people taking time from their schedule and praising your good performance," Chikte, 25, said. "I am now eying the marquee tournaments like the World Cup next year, then the Commonwealth and Asian Games," he added.
Of course, there will be competition in the form of P Sreejesh, who has yet to completely recover from his knee injury. "Yes, there will be competition. If I think I am the best, I won't be able to progress, but once he arrives, we will both work hard to be in the playing XI. I have learnt a lot from Sreejesh. I have never played at the junior level, so my basics are a bit weak," Chikte added. Having played a vital role in India's Asia Cup triumph, Chikte credited his team's new policy of senior players getting involved in strategising while the coach comes into the picture where implementation is concerned. "We have a new team, new support staff, new coach. It took some time to get the team set-up/atmosphere right. Earlier, it used to be the coach, who decided the strategies.
Playing Pakistan on a number of occasions in the recent past has helped him and the team to absorb the unique pressure. "Of course, India-Pakistan contests create a lot of pressure on the players, but we have played against them twice in the Hockey World League and won 6-1 and 7-1. This time, at the Asia Cup, they prepared well but we outplayed them," said Chikte, who made his international debut during the 2016 Sultan Azlan Shah tournament in Malaysia. Coming from a poor background, Chikte started playing as goalkeeper for his school (Sai Vidyalaya in Yavatmal district) football team. Hockey Coach Jitendra Satpute who spotted him, asked him to play for the hockey team as he was the tallest amongst the other candidates. "I started off as a goalkeeper for my school football team. One day, our hockey team didn't have a 'keeper so Satpute sir asked me to play. That year, I got selected for the Nationals. Then, Krida Prabodhini at Balewadi, Pune offered me coaching and education," he said.
"I am part of the Indian Army for the last six years. I am leaving for Delhi on Wednesday when I get promoted from Havildar to Naib Subhedar," he said. Recalling his early struggles, Chikte, said, "My father still works at a small welding workshop. The early part of my career was tough as hockey equipment is costly and a goalkeeper's kit is even more costly. I didn't have enough money, so I used to borrow money to buy a kit. I managed that way till the Nationals." Coach Thakur recalled: "I have been coaching him since 2012. He was a raw player then. He is hardworking and very down to earth. He grabs his chances," he said. "It was tough task for him to replace Sreejesh as we all know he is one of the best in the world, but Chikte has done pretty well. A goalkeeper needs a lot of experience to play at the higher level and to impress one and all despite not playing at the junior level, is really a big achievement," he added.
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