Hockey: Suraj Karkera steps out of the shadow to stake his claim as India’s first-choice goalkeeper

One of the most endearing images of India’s Paris Olympic campaign was that of Indian men’s hockey captain Harmanpreet Singh hoisting goalkeeper PR Sreejesh on his shoulders after India won bronze.

Sreejesh had just played his final match for India, ending a storied career which saw him win two Olympic bronze medals. It was a fairytale end to the career of one of India’s beloved sports heroes.

Nearly 8,000 kilometres away in Bengaluru, Suraj Karkera watched with pride, happiness and maybe even a bit of relief as Sreejesh bowed out on a high. It was finally Karkera’s time to stake his claim as India’s No 1 goalkeeper.

First up in his journey would be the Asian Champions Trophy held in Hulubuir City in China, a tournament the Indians went on to win after beating the hosts 1-0 in the final.

“Sreejesh bhai has gone and he has left big shoes to fill,” Karkera told Scroll ahead of the team’s departure for China. “He’s raised the bar of goalkeeping. [Krishan] Pathak and I have been together since 2015 and we have been fighting for [the second goalkeeper’s spot] since then.

“Life as a goalkeeper is like a lot about patience and perseverance. You have to keep doing it day in and day out, irrespective of whether you’re getting selected or not. It’s two places in a team, so you have to fight it out. It’s a tough position to crack, but I think that’s the beauty of it.”

A majority of the players who were in Paris were named in the side for the Asian Champions Trophy, along with a host of young players eager to break into the national team. Among those was Karkera.

Unlike the likes of younger players like Mohammed Raheel, Araijeet Singh Hundal, Amir Ali and Gurjot Singh, 28-year-old Karkera is one of the most experienced players in the side having made his debut way back in 2017 – at a time when Sreejesh was out with injury.

However, with Sreejesh the undisputed No 1 and Pathak his deputy, Karkera had only accumulated 43 caps for India over seven years. Of the 20 players selected for the tournament in China, only three players had made their debuts before Karkera. And yet, all but five had more caps than him before the tournament.

In 2017, the goalkeeper from Mumbai had a good run of matches, including playing a key role in India winning the 2017 Asia Cup and bronze medal in the World League final.

However, with Sreejesh coming back to the team in 2018 and Pathak in better form, Karkera went down the pecking order. Over the next three years, Karkera would only make three appearances.

Post Tokyo 2020, he made a comeback to the team at the 2021 Asian Champions Trophy where India won bronze. Karkera had a very good outing in Dhaka and won the Goalkeeper of the Tournament Award. However, post the 2022 Asia Cup where India won bronze, Sreejesh and Pathak came back to the side, leaving Karkera to once again be the third-choice goalkeeper.

Life as a backup goalkeeper is often frustrating with match time few and far between. Over the past seven years, Karkera has spent 250 to 300 days each year at the hockey camp in Bengaluru.

He would be a part of the team’s preliminary squad for various tournaments, only to be cut from the final squad. But going back home when the team left for the tournaments was never an option for Karkera.

Going back home meant coming back to the camp in far worse shape than the other players. To avoid that, Karkera would stay back in the camp and train by himself or with the junior teams to maintain his fitness levels.

But he claimed that he always looked at the silver lining despite being left out of the squad for years.

“I was in both the Olympic cycles in 2021 and 2024 where we won bronze,” he said. “It’s a tough thing to digest [not being in the team], but that’s how I get motivated.

“Ultimately, being a goalkeeper is a tough job. You have to push through it. There is a hurdle. You go over it, under it, beside it, but you have to go through it. You have to be strong mentally. There’s never been a thought to quit because it’s not going my way. Eventually you get a breakthrough someway or the other way.”

Despite Sreejesh’s retirement, Karkera still has a tough task ahead of him to be the first-choice goalkeeper. Since breaking into the national team in 2018, Pathak has gone from strength to strength and is in the best position to take over from Sreejesh.

Crucially, Craig Fulton also declared Pathak to be the first-choice goalkeeper to this publication before the team departed for China.

Karkera, however, is relishing the challenge of competing with his close friend all over again.

“[Pathak] has shifted to Mumbai so we are in the same city,” Karkera said. “He’s a fierce competitor. We both want to win and we both want to be the first choice. And that keeps us going, keeps us hungry.”

Since taking over last summer, Fulton has built his team around a strong defensive unit which makes India a difficult team to break down. This has meant that India are defending for longer periods of time, making it imperative to have a very good goalkeeper guarding the posts.

“In football and hockey, every coach will always tell you that attack wins games, but defence wins you championships – that has been our motto,” Karkera said.

“[Fulton] places a lot of emphasis on concentration and effective communication between defenders and goalkeepers. For me, coming back into the team after a long time, that communication is an important thing for me to achieve because that will make my job easy.”

In Hulunbuir City, China India defended their title, winning all seven matches while scoring 26 goals and conceding only five. While Pathak played the first and third quarters in each match, Karkera played the second and fourth quarters.

In 210 minutes of hockey, Karkera did not concede a single goal and even won the player of the match award in India’s game against Korea. After years of patiently watching on from the sidelines, Karkera has put himself in good stead to challenge for the No 1 spot.