'It's is like missing my life,' says PR Sreejesh after he retires from hockey

Indian hockey legend PR Sreejesh said India have enough talent to fill his vacuum as the goalkeeper.

The 36-year-old custodian retired from hockey after winning his second successive bronze medal with the Indian team at the Olympic Games. 

Sreejesh stood like a wall throughout India's Paris Olympics 2024 campaign, helping the country to win their second consecutive Olympic medal in 52 years. India had last won successive medals at the Olympics in the 1972 Munich Olympics. 

"There won't be a vacuum. Someone will come in my place, for sure. All the sports are like that. Sachin Tendulkar was there and now there is Virat Kohli, and someone will take his place tomorrow. So, Sreejesh was there yesterday, but someone else will come and take his place tomorrow," Sreejesh during a media interaction in Paris. 

The stalwart has also been offered a mentor's role in the junior hockey set-up by Hockey India. 

"I just got the offer. I spoke to Bhola (Bholanath Singh), sir. It's just time to head back home now, talk to my family, and take a decision," added Sreejesh. 

Sreejesh, meanwhile, said he is still unsure about the next steps of his life. 

"It's like missing my life. I don't know anything other than hockey. From the first day I went to the camp in 2002 until now, I've been with them," stated Sreejesh. 

"I don't know what all I will miss; maybe when I'm home, I will figure it out. In the morning, I'm out with them, training, gym, and on the field, there is always a fun atmosphere. Pep talk, team meetings, you have to shout at them, even abuse them," he added. 

"The celebration days after a win or crying together after a loss, it's been my life. Maybe, we don't know what it's like to be outside," said Sreejesh.