Karthi Selvam: A breakout hockey talent from Tamil Nadu after 13 years

Karthi Selvam, a 21-year-old from Tamil Nadu, was one of the most impressive Indian players in his debut match in the FIH Pro League as the home team handed a 7-4 defeat to New Zealand in the 2022-23 FIH Hockey Pro League at the Kalinga Stadium on Friday.

Selvam scored two goals - both in crucial junctures of the match - as the Indian Men's Hockey Team roared back in style after conceding a two-goal lead initially. The other goals for India came from captain Harmanpreet Singh (7', 19'), Raj Kumar Pal (31'), Sukhjeet Singh (50') and Jugraj Singh (53').

Selvam was given his first chance in the FIH Hockey Pro League by coach Graham Reid on Friday as he replaced Mohammed Raheel on the left wing in the starting lineup against New Zealand on Friday.

The Indian coach had told The Bridge before the match, "There will be a couple of different players playing this week. We're trying to get our World Cup team of 18 or 22 sorted, so we're trying to give different people opportunities."

And this was a chance the 21-year-old grabbed with both hands. Because hockey has always been his only ticket out of a life of doing odd jobs for a living.

In the 17th minute, he was laid up by Manpreet Singh to score India's second goal with a crunching shot middled off his stick. In the 38th minute, when he made the score 5-3 in India's favour after beating the keeper in a one-on-one situation, the noise levels went up by a few decibels.

"My father works as a watchman at a government college for a salary of Rs 5,000 a month. I have an elder sister who is married and a younger brother who has completed his 12th standard. I am aware that there have been many players in the Indian team who have come from very difficult financial background and I am no different," the young forward had told Hockey India last year.

"If I had not pursued hockey, I perhaps would have been doing odd jobs to earn a living. It has made me more determined to do well and go on to a successful international career," he said.

Karthi Selvam is congratulated in the Indian dugout after scoring his second goal of the match (Screenshot)

Having made his debut in the Asia Cup earlier this year, Selvam had scored in his debut match for India against Pakistan. His two goals on FIH Pro League debut on Friday took his goal tally up to 5 in 9 matches.

Tamil Nadu's rich history in hockey

When Karthi Selvam had been selected in India's squad for the Asia Cup this year alongside Mareeswaran Sakthivel, it was the first instance of a Tamil Nadu player being selected for the Indian national team in 13 years.

Once thriving with hockey Olympic medallists, Tamil Nadu has not had much success in this sport in recent decades. In fact, after the 2004 Athens Olympics, Tamil Nadu has failed to send any hockey player to the quadrannial event.

Before Karthi, the last time there was a Tamil Nadu player in the national side was Gunasekar Malayalan in the 2009 Asia Cup. The last Olympian from Tamil Nadu was Adam Sinclair in 2004.

The last Olympic medalist from the state had been Vasudevan Baskaran, who captained the Indian side in the 1980 Moscow Olympics, that won the last hockey gold for India.

Some other hockey greats from the state include Leslie Fernandez, VJ Peter, Ranganathan Francis and Krishnamurthy Perumal.