Journalism of Courage
It was Gurjinder Singh’s much-anticipated inauguration at the Mumbai Magicians’ home-ground when they played their first game at the MHA stadium, as the Chandigarh lad looked all set to take on the role essayed for the team by Sandeep Singh last season. And if the first quarter against UP Wizards was anything to go by, all action seemed to be centred entirely on the talented 19-year-old.
In the 12th minute, Gurjinder announced his intentions with a whiplash of a drag-flick to the left of the Wizards’ keeper George Bazley to put Mumbai 1-0 ahead. Within two minutes, he was at the other end, blocking Raghunath’s attempt from a penalty corner. However, moments later, he was hobbling away to the sidelines, with the ball having struck his right ankle, and the remainder of the half was spent in anticipation of his return.
His brief dazzling outing seemed to be snapped short and he spent the time after interval looking a shadow of his first-quarter self. As the match progressed and Mumbai lapsed to a 5-3 loss, the teenager was guilty of committing errors at crucial points. He was also loose in his defending as he allowed attackers to glide by with ease..
At the other end, VR Raghunath, captain of the Uttar Pradesh Wizards, took on the mantle of showing the youngster how it was done as the tale of the two PC specialists played out in the fixture.
Gurjinder did open the scoring for his side in the match, but it was the senior India player who dominated the art, scoring a hat-trick. Gurjinder later admitted, “I watch the drag-flickers while defending and I managed to pick up a thing or two that could help.”
The youngster was also seen working hard on his drag-flicks on match-eve even as Mumbai sought to fill in the gap left by Sandeep Singh whose transfer to Punjab had given the youngster – earlier with rival-league WSH – a chance to establish himself in HIL. Raghunath remained solid in the Wizard’s defense, but his most spectacular moment was in scoring the third of his goals. The 25-year-old poised to take the shot with a half-moon turn, swirling 180 degrees to take the ball away from the defense.
However, at this juncture Raghunath realised that his own team-mates were in no position to collaborate, and he improvised to take the shot himself – turning swiftly and swooping a scorcher to give Wizards’ the winning lead.
