While Nikki Pradhan, Indian team’s vice-captain, goes about her job of stopping the opponent from netting a goal, all you can notice is her blue-coloured jersey and the diligence at work. But there is something else that is hidden beneath it: The perseverance to overcome challenges at different periods of her journey. That, on occasions, she had to leave for practice sessions with an empty stomach gives you an idea about her struggle.
“We are five kids, the state of our livelihood at that time, we couldn’t afford (much). We used to play by making a stick out of broken pieces, bamboo sticks or any available material,” she told RevSportz. “Then I had to leave the hostel twice. When I took a rented room, I got a lot of support from my family. They would bring all kinds of things required to cook food — dal and chawal. I didn’t have the time to cook my breakfast. So, I used to go out for practice in the morning on an empty stomach. Then I used to cook my lunch, take some rest, before practicing with hostel mates.
“The year 2011 was a turning point for me. During that year, Ranchi hosted the National Games. I got the chance to play for Jharkhand, there were many international players. With their help, I got the chance to be in the sub-junior national camp. After that, my selection happened at the Sports Excellence Centre in Bhopal,” added Nikki.
So, what is the backstory of Nikki having to vacate her hostel a couple of times? Why would the hostel authorities remove a promising player from their premises? Said Nikki. “There were two hostels. One was the NCC or Central Government and the other being the State Government one. I came from the NCC side. I was removed from my hostel as my tenure ended. But my teachers and coaches said, ‘she plays well, her talent would go waste, so why not shift her to the state hostel?’
“It wasn’t easy for me there either. After passing plus two (Class 12), I was removed, as after passing out of school you can’t stay there. So, I took a room on rent and stayed inside the hostel.”
That also brings up a question as to when did Nikki first up a hockey stick? Was she inspired by another player’s journey? From Nikki’s vivid account of her formative years, it could be made out that she was motivated by Pushpa Pradhan’s journey. Pushpa won as many as 166 caps for India and was a part of the national squad that took home the gold medal in the 2004 Asia Cup.
“In the school I was studying at, she was called a guest of honour to present a gold medal to the student who had won it in the School Games. So, she talked about her journey to me. I got inspired and thought I could also play this game,” Nikki observed.
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After walking through the long road full of adversities, the ticket to the land of her dreams arrived in 2015 as she made her India debut. A year later, she created history by becoming the first female hockey player from Jharkhand to represent India at the Olympics. “When my juniors got over, I didn’t think I would get into the senior camp as well. In 2015, there was an open trial to select players for the senior team and I got selected,” she noted.
“After that, from all over India 20 girls had come, and I was the only one selected. I wasn’t sure that I would get picked for the 2016 Olympics, as we had many senior players those days. But I never stopped working hard and got selected. At that time, hockey in Jharkhand was on a downhill path. I do believe my selection for the Olympics played a part in hockey getting a new lease of life in Jharkhand.”
Nikki, who recently completed the milestone of playing in her 150th international, would have many more goals to achieve. One of them surely would be winning a medal at the Paris Olympics. India came very close to achieving that dream in the Tokyo Olympics; eventually finishing fourth. But for India to accomplish that vision, they have to carve out a way through the qualification process.
India had a chance of securing their entry into the Paris Olympics during the Asian Games but they ended up losing to China in the semifinals in Hangzhou. So, what went wrong in that match? Nikki’s reply was short but crisp. “I think we thought too much. We kept thinking, ‘oh, we have to qualify for the Olympics, we have to qualify for the Olympics’. We didn’t play our normal game.”
Despite that disappointment, Nikki is upbeat about India’s chances in the ongoing Women’s Hockey Olympic Qualifiers in Ranchi. “Our defence is good. We play a lot of short passes and it benefits us. If you play short passes, and move through quickly, it becomes difficult to defend,” she reckoned.
In the crucial group game against Italy on Tuesday, those short passes and Nikki’s tenacity while defending could prove to be a decisive factor in breaking down the opponent’s spirits and taking the home team one step closer to qualification.
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