Shilanand Lakra back for India after 3-year injury hiatus

RAJGIR: Despite making his debut in 2018, striker Shilanand Lakra has played only if 43 times for republic of india, injuries playing a vainglorious constituent in that. At the same time, the 26-year-old has never been dropped from the core group (from which 18 are selected for a tournament (16 for the Olympics).

As a teen talent, Lakra initially found it hard to cement a place in the Indian forward line early, but even when the senior players retired, he was in and out of the team. Things appeared to settle down after the 2021 Tokyo Olympics and Lakra eyed a regular spot. However, serious injuries pegged him back for the next two years.

“While playing in 2022, I injured my left knee and had to undergo surgeries for ACL and meniscus tear. A whole year was wasted due to this,” said Lakra. “When I thought I could make a return, I suffered a hamstring injury. After that got healed, I injured my hamstring in the other leg. Two of my prime playing years got wasted because of this.”

Lakra, however, never gave up his playing career. Having seen seniors make comebacks after suffering major injuries gave Lakra hope. The Odisha player, whose idol is former India skipper Dilip Tirkey (now Hockey India president), observed other players during their rehabilitation work to rebuild fitness in his bid to make a return.

“I never believed I would never play for India again. Luckily for me, coach (Craig Fulton) never dropped me from the core group and I did rehab throughout. Slowly, I started healing and working on my fitness.”

Once healed, Lakra’s challenge was to regain fitness and win a spot in the Indian team. He spent a lot of time with the Indian team’s scientific advisor Alan Tan, focusing on how to increase speed without hurting the muscles, worried that he may get injured again. It paid off as his first Yo-Yo test score on return was a solid 22.4. It is now 22.6.

Fulton was impressed with a toned Lakra. Not having played for India since the Asian Champions Trophy in December 2021, he was finally included in the squad for a two-match series against Germany in October 2024.

It was in the next month in Chennai that Lakra, who hails from Odisha’s hockey nursery of Sundargarh district, truly displayed his skills to impress the selection committee, justifying Fulton’s belief in keeping the striker in the core group as a non-playing member for almost three years.

Lakra didn’t just help Odisha win the National Championships, he scored a hat-trick in the final, the goals coming within a span of 12 minutes in the final quarter, to beat Haryana 5-1. In January too, Lakra was brilliant in the Hockey India League (HIL) to help Hyderabad Toofans reach the final where they lost to Bengal Tigers.

With such performances, Lakra was back in India contention. He became a team regular, playing in the Pro League. He took Lalit Kumar Upadhyay’s spot after the two-time Olympic bronze medallist retired in June.

“I am focussed on staying in the team. It is not easy to take someone else’s spot after being out of the team for so long. But I was hungry. I had to do it,” said Lakra, who has already played 13 games for India this year.

“I worked extra hard on my fitness, running, speed and strength. Skill wise too, I changed my style a bit, depending on which flank I play in the forward line. Slowly but steadily, I am trying to match up with the team.”

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