Hockey: Two-time Olympic medalist Lalit Upadhyay said - I had thought about retirement even before going to Europe.
Lalit, who has scored 67 goals in 183 matches for india, said, 'I am happy that hockey india gave me a lot of respect and opportunities. The team was good, but now it was time. Even before going to europe for the FIH Pro League, I was thinking that I would leave now, but would continue playing domestic hockey and league.'
When I took up hockey for the first time, the purpose was to help my unemployed father and mother who ran the house by sewing, but Lalit Upadhyay, who won two Olympic medals, is happy that this beautiful game became a means to do something for the country. Experienced midfielder Lalit, who was a member of the bronze medal-winning indian team at the tokyo and paris Olympics, retired from international hockey after the european leg of the FIH Pro League.
Lalit said in an interview with Bhasha after retiring from the game, 'I am almost 32 years old and I felt that now the time has come to retire. I wanted to retire at the top and despite the ligament injury, my fitness and form have been good.' When asked if there was pressure on him to retire, he said, 'I have taken this decision myself. I did not want to pull myself. Many people including Harmanpreet tried to stop me but I had made up my mind. I am a Banarasi Akkad and once you think, you think again.'
Lalit, who has scored 67 goals in 183 matches for india, said, 'I am happy that hockey india gave me a lot of respect and opportunities. The team supported me well, but now it was time. Even before going to europe for the FIH Pro League, I was thinking that I would leave now, but will continue playing domestic hockey and league.' In the european stage of the Pro League, india got its only victory in the last match against Belgium, and the dream of qualifying directly for the world cup by winning was also shattered. Lalit, who has achieved many achievements including an Olympic medal, an Asian Games 2022 gold medal, and a 2022 Commonwealth Games silver, said that when he started, the only goal was to help his mother run the house. He said, 'The condition of the family was very bad. Papa's small cloth shop was closed and Mother used to run the house by sewing. In such a situation, I took up hockey in search of a better future and to get a job. When my elder brother and I used to live in day boarding, we used to get two and a half to three hundred rupees, with which I bought a sewing machine for mother.'
Deputy Superintendent Lalit of Uttar Pradesh police got a shock at the very first step of his career when his name inadvertently came up in a sting operation. A tv channel reporter put forward a sponsorship proposal to the then indian hockey Federation (IHF) Secretary K Jyotikumaran in exchange for giving a place to a player in the indian team and that player was Lalit.
Describing that incident as the bitterest memory of his career, Lalit said, 'I was 17 years old and had come with a dream of playing for India. After that incident, I was out of the team, and for four years I faced people's taunts and suspicious eyes, even though it was not my fault. I don't know how many times I cried alone. I could not even go home because I was worried about what people would say. In such a situation, my mother said that if you are right, don't leave hockey. Play well and get a job and then I thought that now I have to play for india at any cost. After this, I played for Air India and people started recognizing my talent.'
After this, in 2011, I met India's great player Mohammad shahid, who brought recognition to Banaras on the world hockey map, which he can never forget. He said, 'In 2011, many Olympians had gathered in an exhibition match in Banaras. I still have that picture in my house which I had taken with legends like shahid Bhai, dhanraj Pillai, and dilip Tirkey. dhanraj Bhai introduced me to shahid Sir, but that picture seemed incomplete to me because all these legends were Olympians. Now it seems that the picture is complete.'
Lalit also expressed his desire to serve indian hockey as a coach in the future like PR Sreejesh, Tushar Khandekar, and Shivendra Singh. He said, 'If hockey india wants, I am ready for it. I want to help the future generation of hockey players.' After hanging up the blue jersey, he currently intends to spend some time in Banaras. He said, 'I stayed in Banaras for eight days during my marriage in 2024. Apart from this, I could not stay for such a long time. I will go there and sit at Dashashwamedh Ghat and visit Kashi Vishwanath.'
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