For the longest time, Krishan Bahadur Pathak was the second-in-command to Indian hockey’s wall, PR Sreejesh. After the latter’s retirement, Pathak is now the men’s hockey team’s first-choice goalkeeper and has been manning the post for seven to eight months. News18 Sports caught up with Pathak on the sidelines of Hockey India’s 7th Annual Awards, where he was part of the Indian teams that were felicitated for their bronze medal win at the Paris Olympics and triumph at the Asian Champions Trophy. For the longest time, you were the second-in-command to Sreejesh. What did you learn from him? I learnt a lot from him while we were together in the team. As juniors, whatever guidance we receive from the seniors is very important for us, as well as how we apply those teachings to our game. Ever since I made my debut, Sreejesh always kept saying, ‘Give your 100% on the turf’. Sreejesh said that whatever chances you get, give your entire effort to it. So, as juniors, when you get a backup from your seniors, it is really helpful. On the game front, Sreejesh taught us how to guide the team from behind, run the defence and communicate with the team, and all those things matter. In today’s hockey, it is very important to know how to run the team and keep us in the game, and that is what he taught us. Your first big assignment was the Asian Champions Trophy. In the first match vs China, you had a clean sheet. Tell us about your experience in that tournament as well as the India vs Pakistan game. The responsibility increased being the number 1 goalkeeper, to run the team, guide the defence. When you play for your country, you have to take on the responsibility. The media makes the India vs Pakistan match a high-profile one, but we play normally. There is the hype, but that is it. We have played them before, at the Asian Champions Trophy in Chennai and the Asian Games. We beat them by a good margin at the Asiad (10-2), but we always discuss that the match that has been played is already in the past. We see every match that is about to come as a new game, and we stay ready for it. You first came onto the senior team when you were around 20-21 years old. In the last six to seven years, what are your biggest takeaways? The biggest lesson is how quickly you can forget what has happened in the past. As a goalkeeper, you are very important to the team and its important how quickly you can forget on and off the field stuff. I have learnt that although you should think about the future, staying in the present is more important. As a goalkeeper, what has changed between the tenures of Graham Reid and Craig Fulton? There has been no such marked difference, but since Craig Fulton came in, he has told me what my capabilities are. He has told me what I could do better and what I could change. As a goalkeeper, it helps me to hone my craft. Penalty corners are now very crucial in scoring. What are the special techniques you pick up individually and practice for that? We do not discuss a lot, but we do note down the variations that the opponents adopt while trying to score from PCs. As goalkeepers, we try and read what they do, and accordingly, we set up our defence. We keep telling the players that a certain player adopts a certain type of variation while trying to score. We keep giving them small information about the opponents and we go for the defence according to that. The next big event is the LA 2028 Olympics. Has the team already begun preparing for that, or are you taking each tournament as it comes? Fulton has asked us to take one tournament at a time. The Olympics is the end goal but there is the World Cup before that (in 2026, Belgium and Netherlands). We have to qualify for that in the first place, and for that, we have to play in the Asia Cup. So yes, we will go step by step. The FIH Pro League is going on and if we can finish well there, we bag a quota for the World Cup as well. (India’s next Pro League assignment is in June, against the Netherlands. They are currently placed third with England at the top of the table.)