"Don't let crowd get into your heads" — Captain Harmanpreet Singh's mantra for Hockey World Cup

When India walk out to take on Spain in the first game of the 2023 Hockey World Cup at a packed stadium in Rourkela, the man leading India on the pitch will be a boy from Punjab who was once fascinated by the big moving wheels of tractor.

From the farms of Punjab to wearing the glorious armband as captain of the Indian Hockey team, Harmanpreet Singh has come a long way in his career.

The 26-year-old is one player who rose through the ranks from featuring in junior national camps and regularly terrorising goalkeepers with his drag-flick to winning a bronze medal at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

Having made his international debut at the tender age of 19 back in 2015, Harmanpreet was recently rewarded with the captaincy by head coach Graham Reid, who trusts him massively. The 2023 Men's Hockey World Cup will be his first major assignment as the skipper.

Talking to The Bridge about his new responsibility Harmanpreet said, "Big tournaments are tricky. I am happy that I have been trusted with this challenge. We have played in front of big crowds and how to handle the pressure. I will just look to continue my learnings from my previous tournaments and junior level."

India will play all their matches in front of a roaring home crowd as Odisha is well-known to come in support of the home team. The last time when India played in the 2018 World Cup at their home ground, it was a disappointing sixth-place finish.

"Home crowd is always an added advantage as it works as the 12th man for us. We have to stay focused and remember our responsibilities. But, we need to ensure that we don't let the crowd get into our heads. We need to be smart enough in handling the energy of fans. As a team, we will be ready and clear with our roles and how to function as a unit during the tournament," Harmanpreet said.

Apart from captaincy, Harmanpreet will have to don the role of being the only penalty corner specialist in the team - a role which he assumed after another Punjab boy and India's previous penalty corner specialist Rupinder Pal Singh hung his boots.

It is going to be a big tournament for Harmanpreet as he has been the biggest asset in front of the goal for India in big tournaments. For his goal-scoring prowess in the FIH Pro League, he was even named the FIH Player of the year in 2022.

On the talks of India being over-dependent on him for PCs, Harmanpreet said, "Definitely, the focus will be on me as I am the designated penalty corner taker but we have other players in the team who have trained specifically for this. Players like Varun and Jarmanpreet will be seen taking up the responsibilities."

READ: 'No over-dependence on Harmanpreet Singh': Graham Reid confident before Hockey WC

While Indian hockey has been on the rise for quite some time now, there is one opponent which still puts fear in the head of Indian fans - Australia. The Kookaburras are one team against whom India have consistently come up short in recent times.

"We have certainly struggled against Australia in major tournaments. The recent tour of Australia is something which we needed. It was a very positive tour for us and the team has newfound confidence after fighting with them," Harmanpreet said.

"We have proved we can tackle, and handle one on one situations and score well. I know the results were not in our favour but we have created goal-scoring opportunities. We have the confidence to take on the best in the world," he added.

India has a recent history of making strong comebacks after going down early. Talking about the mental strength needed to maintain composure after going down, Harmanpreet quipped, "Aisa plan nahi karte hai (We don't plan it)," with a laugh.

"Our focus is to maintain the same intensity from minute one to the last minute. We make sure to stick to our roles when we have the ball and more when we are off the ball. Without the ball, our main focus is to get it back," the Indian skipper added.

"We have always experienced the love and warmth of our fans in Odisha. I am hopeful that they will turn up again for us. We will make sure to fulfil our responsibilities of putting a smile on their face and making them proud," he concluded.