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Indian soccer crew right-back Pritam Kotal feels that he has greater than made up for his lack of expertise along with his capability to work laborious and grow to be a very important cog in Igor Stimac’s scheme of issues.
Having come by the ranks, Kotal is now a common starter within the Indian crew.
“Honestly, I was not a naturally talented player and I’m not ashamed of admitting this. I knew I had to overcome my shortcomings through hardcore training and sheer practice regimes,” Kotal advised the All India Football Federation’s web site.
“Even during the off-days, I used to train inside the room to go a notch up. It was something which came naturally to me.”
It was from his U-19 days on the AIFF Centre in Goa that Kotal developed the behavior of scribbling down each apply session in his private diary.
“I started it as I wanted to minimise my mistakes not just the practise sessions, but also the matches I played,” Kotal mentioned.
“In fact, I still have the habit of jotting it down. And why not?”
“It is a simple exercise but an effective one. Everyone makes mistakes on the field and to minimise our mistakes, we need to train hard. After every training session, I take notes.
“Before heading to the sector on the following day I examine on the factors in order that I do not repeat it once more. There’s no rocket science behind this, however this helps me at all times. I comply with it even at this time,” he smiled.
The defender’s penchant for meditation has earned him the nickname of ‘Meditation Kotal’ in the national team.
It was teammate Sandesh Jhingan who first spotted Kotal sitting in front of a candle flame and staring at it without almost a blink as part of his meditation schedule.
“Meditation has helped me a lot,” he said.
“I have been staring on the candle flame for lengthy ever since my U-19 days. Football is all about focus and focus. As a defender, I cannot afford to lose my focus even for a second.
“Here comes the role of meditation which has helped me stay calm and composed even during a tough face-off or a not-so-well training session.
Kotal has so far represented India in 36 International matches and 10 age-group Internationals. And though he admitted that the loss to Bahrain in the AFC Asian Cup UAE 2019 was heartbreaking, he also labelled it a “new starting.”
“We have grown stronger since that day. Life for a footballer is full of such moments. It was a lesson learnt, and it marked a new starting for all of us.
“It was so near yet so far. That has taught the Blue Tigers how to improve, when to improve. And we are improving with every given day.”
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