2024 was an exceptionally eventful year for Indian sport. At the end of the year, ESPN India picks ten images that tell the story of the most stunning moments we witnessed in the last 12 months. Our fifth pick is a moment that will live long in Indian sporting history - PR Sreejesh doing PR Sreejesh things to see India through to the Olympic semifinals.
It was his last tournament wearing India colours. As it so often had in his career before, India's progression boiled down to PR Sreejesh in goal. India had defended heroically with a man less for 44 minutes against Great Britain in the 2024 Olympic hockey quarterfinals in Paris. The shootout seemed so far away when Amit Rohidas was shown a red card in the 16th minute. Now they were there.
And that's where the team handed the keys to the Olympic semifinal to the greatest goalkeeper to play for the country. Around 10 minutes after Hardik Singh's jubilation at having taken the game to a shootout, India were celebrating again, this time all huddled around a man in a giant yellow jersey.
Sreejesh had done it again. Sreejesh had said no, that afternoon wasn't going to be his last as an international hockey player.
He'd been at it from the off, pulling of 10 saves in the match proper. Manpreet Singh, Harmanpreet Singh and Sumit in front of him had combined to make a few times more interceptions than that. India had put their heart and soul into giving themselves a chance to match or better that bronze medal from Tokyo. The final act though, as it so often is, was Sreejesh's.
He was annoyed with himself for not saving the first two shots in the shootout. James Albery and Zach Wallace snuck shots over and under him respectively. So when Conor Williamson and Phil Roper stepped up for the third and fourth shots, Sreejesh had decided he wasn't letting that ball get past him. He wriggled one way, then the other, all the while ensuring that his massive frame formed the biggest obstacle he could possibly contort it into. Williamson shot over the bar, Roper straight into said massive frame.
When he made that save off Roper, Sreejesh knew that he'd done his job. He allowed himself a little jiggle from his prone position. However, perhaps Sreejesh's biggest achievement on the day was breaking through the wall of his coach Craig Fulton's emotions. The South African, usually so stoic, so expressionless, sprinted about, hugging anyone he could find. The other Indian players were in a heap around the legendary goalkeeper.
The celebrations told a story. India knew that their names were written around a medal in Paris, and at the forefront of it, Parattu Raveendran Sreejesh soaked in the adulation as only he can.