'Honoured To Be Compared With Dhoni But...': Men's Hockey Captain Harmanpreet Singh's Honest Admission

Asian Games-winning Indian men's hockey team captain Harmanpreet Singh doesn't fancy comparisons with the legendary Mahendra Singh Dhoni and feels he is not as calm on the ground like the cricket legend. Harmanpreet, who led the team from the front and returned as the top scorer in the Asian Games with 13 goals, has been compared to Dhoni by hockey great Dhanraj Pillay but the star drag-flicker begs to differ. "On ground, I am never calm. I am aggressive unlike Dhoni but off the field, I try to remain as calm as possible," Harmanpreet said during a visit to PTI headquarters in New Delhi on Tuesday.

Dhoni, who led India to the 2011 ODI World Cup title, is known as 'Captain Cool' for his calm demeanour during pressure situations.

Harmanpreet feels aggressiveness on the hockey turf comes to him naturally but he is honoured to have been compared with Dhoni.

"Aggressiveness is must in my game but I am honoured to have been compared with the great Dhoni. But I don't feel I that calm on the pitch." The ticket to Paris Olympic secured, the monkey is off the back of the India men's hockey team and a relieved Harmanpreet has now trained his eyes on bettering the colour of the medal they won in Tokyo in next year's Paris Games.

A dominant India thrashed Japan 5-1 in the final to clinch their fourth Asian Games gold medal in Hangzhou on last Friday, thereby directly qualifying for Paris Olympics.

With the pressure of qualification off its back, Harmanpreet said the team can focus on preparations for next year's quadrennial extravaganza "As a player, you are never satisfied, you know your dream. If you win a gold medal, next time you will again try to repeat the feat. That is precisely on our mind," "Last time we experienced the