A few days ago during Wimbledon, Novak Djokovic said “36 is the new 26” when talking about his excellent fitness.
On Wednesday, after India beat Pakistan in the Asian Champions Trophy (ACT) in Chennai, PR Sreejesh, 35 and with almost 300 international matches under his belt, quoted the tennis legend with regard to his own career.
"At this age, better don't ask me about the next two years. It's all about the next one. I am at the Asian Games, and after that, I'll see how things happen. I will take it one tournament at a time," the goalkeeper told PTI when asked about the chances of him playing another ACT (a biennial event) .
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"As Djokovic said, '35 is the new 25'. So, I'm definitely there," Sreejesh added, tweaking the numbers a bit.
Sreejesh is sharing the goalkeeping load with Krishan Bahadur Pathak in the ACT.
He warned against overconfidence after the 4-0 win over Pakistan, and even if India are undefeated so far in the tournament.
"It's just a pool game (vs Pakistan). So, you don't need to be too excited about it,” Sreejesh said.
"We are not at a stage to say that we will win it (the tournament). But the way we are playing and showing it on the field, we believe we will put up a strong show against the sides coming up.”
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India play Japan in the semifinal and vice-captain and midfielder Hardik Singh said the team will need more patience and goals. Japan frustrated India in their league stage encounter, which ended 1-1.
"Our final execution inside the box has been good. We haven't conceded any goals (vs Pakistan), which is a good thing. We expect to carry the same momentum in the upcoming matches," Hardik said.
"But we still need to have more patience inside the box. We need to set up the tempo of the game. We will be treating them (Japan) as a top team."
