'Experienced PR Sreejesh will thrive on added pressure'

PR Sreejesh

Air-India goalkeeper Adrian however, felt that, being surrounded by young players could be a blessing in disguise for Sreejesh. "Recently, at the Surjit Singh tourney, we [AI] had a very young and inexperienced team. I didn't even know my defenders. But we had a great outing and reached the semis, losing to a tough Railways team. We did well because our youngsters played with zero pressure and excelled with their pace and fitness. The same could happen with this Indian team," felt Adrian, who knows what it takes to win a gold medal on home soil, having been a part of India's 2007 Asia Cup-winning campaign in Chennai.

Subbaiah, part of India's 1998 Asian Games-winning outfit in Bangkok, warned Sreejesh to be a bit cautious though. "Sreejesh is known to be an aggressive goalkeeper but he may have to be cautious this time. For example, if there is an acrobatic save to be made, he might have to hold back knowing that he can't go all out as this team needs him throughout the tourney," said Subbaiah.

AB Subbaiah and Adrian D'Souza

Adrian agreed but with a rider. "Cautious, yes, but I'm confident, that Sreejesh will excel under the bar. And it will be a case of the young players depending on him rather than he depending on them," said Adrian.

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