Hockey India has decided to retire the jersey number 16 from the national senior men’s team to honour the goalkeeping stalwart P R Sreejesh as he bid adieu to the sport after Paris Olympics 2024.
Hockey India secretary general Bhola Nath Singh said that going forward no senior team player will be given the number 16 jersey.
The decision has been made to celebrate 18 glorious years of Sreejesh that included
securing back-to-back Olympic bronze medals. Sreejesh is all set to become the coach of the junior men’s hockey team.
Sreejesh is now going to be the junior team coach and we are retiring the No. 16 jersey for the senior team. We are not retiring No. 16 for the junior team,” said Singh at a felicitation function organised for Sreejesh and other members of the team, added Singh.”
The 36-year-old affable player had shared his aspirations for his coaching career, following the footsteps of his inspiration and role model, Radul Dravid. “I want to become a coach. That was always my plan but now there is a question of when. After retirement, family
comes first. I need to talk with them if they are OK with this. Now you have to listen to your wife a little bit,” said Sreejesh.
