Mumbai: Rupinder Pal Singh’s drag-flicks may have become a very common sight for the average hockey fan, but India vice-captain did not learn this skill until he met legendary former national team player Jugraj Singh.
Rupinder, who ended the Asian Champions Trophy as the tournament’s highest scorer with 11 goals, while speaking to Deccan Chronicle, revealed that he was not always a drag-flicker during his younger days.
“I never used to hit the drag-flick, back in the junior levels,” said Rupinder. “I met Jugraj-bhai at that training camp, and that's where he started to teach me how to do the drag-flick.
“I guess you could call that the turning point of my career. I had to work a lot on my drag-flicks.”
The 26-year-old said that it took a lot of extra hours on the training ground in order for him to master the art of the drag-flick.
“I was already doing all the usual training exercises with the other guys. After that, I had to dedicate a lot more time in training for the drag-flicks,” said Rupinder. “If you are working on a particular individual skill, you obviously have to take out more time for that.”
Rupinder, who is currently preparing for the upcoming Hockey India League (HIL), also spoke about the domestic tournament, saying that this is a platform where the young Indian players can rub shoulders with the top players from around the world, and pick up valuable experience.
“As a young player, if you want to get into the national team, HIL is a brilliant platform to showcase their skills,” said Rupinder. “They also get to play against the top players, so that gives them a lot of experience as well.”
