Meteoric Rise of Wrestler-Turned Indian Drag-Flicking Forward Deepika Sehrawat!

She provides a calming influence in the Indian women’s hockey team – irrespective of whether the going is good or the team is treading in troubled waters during a match, Deepika Sehrawat never fails to give out the impression that she is giving more than ‘hundred percent’ for the team. A high utility player, the 20-year-old Hisar girl has slowly and steadily emerged as one of the exciting prospects for the future. At a time when drag-flickers are few and far between in women’s hockey, Deepika brings so much to the Indian women’s team – a drag-flicking forward is something not many teams are blessed with in women’s hockey.

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The sturdy forward really came to the party at the 8th Asian Champions Trophy playing her part in not just creating goal-scoring opportunities for her team-mates, but also in rattling the cage – her standout hat-trick against Thailand has only reinforced her credentials as someone Indian women can look up to for the future – her brace helped India pull off a narrow 3-2 win over South Korea.

Interestingly, this was Deepika’s second international hat-trick – she had scored her maiden international hat-trick against Hong Kong at the 2023 Hangzhou Asian Games – a same event where she scored her maiden international against Singapore.

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She made her senior international debut against Germany at the 2022 Pro League tie at the Kalinga Stadium, Bhubaneshwar and subsequently featured in the 2022 Asia Cup at Muscat – those two tourneys were a huge learning curve for her as later on she started to showcase her flair at the 2023 Hangzhou Asian Games, 2023 Asian Champions Trophy, 2024 Olympic Qualifiers, and the 2024 Pro League.

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Not many know that Deepika belongs to a family that is heavily into wrestling. She initially started training at the SAI, Hisar centre alongside her elder brother. “I still remember sometime in 2012 when Deepika used to accompany her elder brother to the SAI, Hisar centre for the latter’s wrestling sessions. The wresting arena was adjacent to the hockey turf. She would take wrestling sessions with her brother. After a few days, I saw her sitting near the hockey turf and watching the hockey training sessions even as her brother was doing his wrestling session for an hour and a half or so. One day, I told my trainees this little girl is watching our training sessions and asked her one day if she is interested in playing hockey and she said yes and I arrange hockey stick and other required stuff for her to play hockey,” says Deepika’s childhood coach Azad Singh Malik in an exclusive interview with Hockey Passion.

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Malik, who has been instrumental in Hockey Haryana faring well in the women nationals across various age-groups, reveals how Deepika shot into the prominence at the 2018 National Sub-Junior Championship held at her hometown Hisar. “The Sub-Junior Nationals really catapulted her into national limelight. She scored 16 goals for Hockey Haryana and helped them win the national crown. She was adjudged the ‘Best Player’ of the tournament,” he says with a glint of pride.

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The much-respected Haryana coach is elated to see his ward dazzle wearing the national jersey. “A coach is always more happy than the player when his or her ward performs on the big stage and I can’t put it in words. She is very reticent by nature but very persevering and disciplined. She makes sure she does everything is expected of her during the training sessions. She has been under my guidance since 2012 till the time she was called to the national camp. As a forward she is very opportunistic and needs to work hard on getting more power and guile in her drag-flicks. With more international experience she will only get better,” quips Malik.

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Deepika is a foodie, insists Malik. “She is passionate about her food. If we bring sweets on occasions during our sessions, I always bring some extra as I know she likes having them – of course this is only on occasions. She also loves her parathas with generous dose of white butter.” Deepika can look forward to a great journey with the national women’s team and stay injury-free and keeps performing consistently.

Images Credit: Asian Hockey Federation