JOIN USFormer international Jugraj Singh feels having three drag-flickers in the Indian side was the team's strength in the Olympic qualifiers at the Major Dhyan Chand National stadium.
Jugraj, an ace drag-flicker before a major car accident cut short his flourishing career, is helping Sandeep Singh, Rupinder Pal Singh and VR Raghunath master the art. He feels it is rare to have so many potent flickers at the same time.
“Good drag-flickers are rare to find but India have three. It means we can field at least two of them in a match. I feel this gives us the edge compared to the other teams.
Drag-flicking is a very important part of modern hockey. We have a world-class drag-flicker in Sandeep Singh and Rupinder Pal is also coming back to form. Raghunath has improved a lot in the last one year,” Jugraj told Deccan Herald.
Jugraj is also keenly following the progress of drag-flickers in other teams. “We will be seeing the video of other team's drag-flickers and analyse their game. France's Fabien Magner and Canada's Scott Tupper are good and we will be keeping a tab on them,” he said.
Playing attacking hockey has rendered flexibility to the positions of players and Jugraj feels they are now a more complete team.
“Everyone is training to play in different positions. This makes us a more complete team as players are learning the skills of playing at various positions. We can't be complacent, not even for one match,” he said.