There is pressure on Harmanpreet, but trying to divert it: Reid

India captain Harmanpreet Singh is one of the star attractions of the men’s hockey World Cup starting Friday because of his sheer calibre of penalty-corner conversions, but the team’s chief coach Graham Reid has worked upon plans to divert the attention from his key player. Harmanpreet is currently regarded as one of the world’s finest penalty-corner exponents but Reid wants his other dragflickers — vice-captain Amit Rohidas, Varun Kumar and Nilam Sanjeep Xess — to share the responsibility with their skipper. ”I would be lying if I say that there isn’t pressure on him (Harmanpreet). We have been spending a lot of time on our variations and making sure that we can deflect some of the pressure from Harman,” Reid told PTI in an interview ahead of their tournament opener against Spain in Rourkela on Friday. ”There are other dragflickers in the squad in the form of Amit, Varun and Nilam and they have to share the burden.” Eight-time gold medallists India grabbed an Olympic medal — a bronze in Tokyo — after 41 years and the expectations are high from the home team to return to the podium in the World Cup since 1975, when they won their maiden yellow metal in the event. And the Australian coach, under whose tutelage India won the Olympic medal in Tokyo, understands the need of modern-day hockey. ”We focussed mainly on scenarios in our training, what if we are 0-1 down, what if we are playing with 10 men, what if they take their keeper off. Those types of scenarios which are important that we have dealt with,” Reid said.