He spent close to five months on the sidelines owing to a shoulder injury, missing a number of events including the year-ending Hockey World League Finals and the Hockey India League.
But now, after undergoing a successful surgery to his right shoulder and spending enough time on his rehabilitation, striker Nikkin Thimmaiah is back. The 25-year-old Karnataka player will be once again be seen in India colours at the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup, that gets underway in Malaysia from April 6.
In a team that came under immense criticism last season for failing to convert goal scoring opportunities, Thimmaiah could be the breath of fresh air that the Sardar Singh-led side is looking for. But ask the St Joseph’s Commerce College graduate who relies on his pace and positioning skills, he would give you a different version.
“Criticisms are part and parcel of the game. If you do well, people praise you, if not they critics. That’s how it is,” he begins.
“But as a player, we don’t focus on that. Our job is to practice, polish our skills and ensure that we put up a good show when on the field. And it won’t be any different this time too,” he said.
Returning from a major injury can be a tedious task. It could take a long while before the player could even think of picking up his stick again. But for the nippy forward, who said it was a much easier task given his past with injuries. “It was hard initially.
You feel difficult to get out, pick up your stick and do the basics right. But I think I managed well. More so because I have being through injuries before so I knew the path I need to take to get back into the side.”
Being an Olympic year, Thimmaiah knows the importance of the season. “Definitely. Our performance at the Azlan Shah Cup will matter a lot. This being the Olympic year and Azlan Shah being the season opening tournament, we will want to get our season off to a good start and then build on it as we approach the Rio Games,” he opined.
India has rested a handful of their key players and head into the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup with a fairly new side. Though the side will be lacking on the experience front, Thimmaiah said it was an opportunity for the travelling bunch to stake their claim before the all-important Olympic squad is announced.
“This being the Olympic year we need to try out all the possible combinations. So I think Azlan Shah, where you have a number of good teams playing, will provide us a good opportunity to try and test the players before the Olympic squad is announced,” he clarified.
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