“I am brave. Not stupid,” Amit Rohidas says, in an affable, even tone.
He is looking back at the notorious red-card he copped at the Olympics, after his swinging hockey stick and English forward Will Calnan’s face definitely featured in the same frame on video referral replays. It’s something he doesn’t see as red on his ledger, though the suspension cost him the semifinal. “Just because a guy takes on the job of running into a shot travelling at 150 kph, to stop it, doesn’t mean he will automatically swing the hockey stick at an opponent to hurt him. I’m not that stupid,” he repeats. “Nobody is.”
We ask the Indian defender what he would do differently if he could rewind to that 17th minute in the Paris Olympics quarterfinals against England. Or would he temper his defensive rigour, going forward, given how crucial he is to India holding its fort. “I have to play my game only, keep doing my duty. I know the rules,” he insists.
It’s the age of clichés. ‘First rusher’ – Rohidas’ job description, easily stretches to ‘rush of blood.’ But, courage and reckless bravado are not two sides of the same coin, he insists.
It’s the age of memes. But no one in hockey’s game of thrones, wakes up and chooses violence. He laughs uproariously at the suggestion. “Obviously no one is forever calm on a sports field. But we are the national team who are professionally trained. I know how to control my emotions. If I get angry, the team will suffer. My job is to boost other players, keep doing my duty and cause no disturbance even if opponents try to irritate me, which they do,” he says. There’s even a Lord Jagannath temple song that instantly calms him down that he hums, when provoked.
Amit Rohidas of India in action with William Calnan of Britain and Zach Wallace of Britain. (Reuters)
His read on that fateful Fourth of August day goes beyond calling the punishment ‘unacceptable.’ “I was playing my game. I definitely wasn’t looking to strike him, but in the flow of the moment the stick swung in his face. There was no bleeding, he played the full match. Yellow (card) was OK. Red was not good,” he says.
Did he speak to Calnan post the match? “Unhone shakl bhi nai dikhaayi, haarne ke baad,” he says. England disappeared post the loss.
Rohidas spent the 43 minutes left on the clock, confined to the change room, terribly tense as India went about their job with first 10, then 9 men. “For me that was one of India’s best performances ever, where they won a match I thought we had lost. After we won, my tension disappeared. God saved us, and my team played brilliantly. Smile face mein aa gayaa.” He smiled for the first time that day.
Against Germany in the semis, he would watch from the gallery, and rue lost chances with the rest of the country. He was grateful though that no teammate bore down on him in frustration. “No coach, no teammate said a mean thing to me. They told me to stay assured and calm for the bronze match.” The could-have-been-gold, but-was-a-bronze, will remain a collective regret, nursed in private and with the team.
As first rusher in PCs, Rohidas routinely charges at projectiles coming at him at 122-150 kph, he says. Team video analysts break down habits and trends in dodging, turning of first stopper and pusher on players’ individual tablets. “I can’t afford to play with pressure, and I stay as composed as possible. We stick to plans,” he explains. Hulking out with a hot head isn’t ever in the plan, he stresses.
“But only those who have dum and jigraa (courage and heart muscle), can get into this 100 percent,” he says adding, he didn’t have the luxury of posters of first-rushing idols on bare walls. “I started as a first rusher as a junior, and kept getting better at it learning from coaches, so there was no hero. You have to be brave. I’m fearless, and not scared of being hurt,” he says. “Safety equipment has improved, so this job became a habit.”
Surely, no one grows up dreaming to be a first rusher in hockey though, when you could be a fancy forward and score pretty goals? “But Sundergarh (Orissa) has always produced good defenders. It’s why there’s no one star who’s worshipped there. We just know we are good at this,” he says.
The hunger to succeed, Rohidas says, comes from their difficult background. “We are poor adivasis, and my father didn’t have a regular job. We are not allowed to get hungry a third time in the day, when even two meals aren’t assured. To earn our food, we have to do something in the game, otherwise we end up as labourers. When you know this reality, you rush at a 150 kph ball, weighing everything. The reason I say I’m not stupid to break safety rules or get angry in a big occasion match with the world watching is we can’t afford to have a rush of blood, and spoil it for the team. Our hunger to do well never ends,” he says. “Defender ki duty never ends.”
