All through his career — from school to district to state to international level — Indian hockey midfielder Gurbaj Singh has played as a right-half.

Yet, a few months back, national coach Terry Walsh opined that he switch to the centre-forward position. In his position on the right flank, Gurbaj had shown plenty of attacking aptitude and Walsh felt the 26-year-old would be a good addition to the front line.

But Gurbaj shied away from the suggestion. “The right-half is a position where I am comfortable. I know exactly when I have to move forward, when to attack or when the team needs me in defence. I know exactly when to send a dummy pass and where to find the forward. If I had to suddenly play as a forward, I would have had to learn all this positioning once again. I already had that rhythm in my old position. So I told the coach that I would be able to contribute better to the team if I played in my old position,” says Gurbaj ahead of the Indian team’s departure to Australia for a four-test series.

It would prove to be a wise decision. At the Asian Games, which India won after a gap of 24 years, much of the team’s performance can be credited to the midfield trio. Gurbaj himself was one of the standout performers of the squad, repeatedly creating openings on the right flank. But as intelligent as it was, Gurbaj’s choice to back his ability against the coach’s perception was equally brave.

Once a regular in the national team, Gurbaj was one of the casualties of the squad after India’s debacle at the 2012 Olympics where they finished last. Dropped from the national camp, he only made his comeback ahead of the Hockey World Cup this year.

Even though he was out of the international scheme of things for two years, Gurbaj says he wasn’t disappointed. “I wasn’t playing hockey because it was my job. No matter what level I was playing in, I was playing hockey because yeh shauk ke liye khelta hoon. So as long I was playing hockey, I was happy,” says Gurbaj.

There were some advantages to being out of the national camp as well. Gurbaj made use of the gap to complete his police training with Punjab Police. “Ever since I was a child the only conversations I have had were about hockey. When I started doing my police training, it was strange that I was suddenly talking about smugglers, criminal law, murder and going for early parades,” says Gurbaj.

He says much of what he learnt at the police academy helped him out in his hockey as well.

“In the past I would go to the ground with my stick. And now I realised that I was going to the ground with my rifle. I did a bit of VIP duty with the Punjab chief minister as well. I even did a one-and-a-half month commando training course where I learnt shooting and horse riding. These were things I hadn’t thought I could do but I was learning all of this,” says Gurbaj.

Indeed even at the academy Gurbaj says he continued to train, believing he had a chance to make a comeback. “I worked on my passing as well as my attacking game. And shooting practice may have helped my passing become more accurate as well,” he jokes. Having finally made a comeback to the squad, Gurbaj admits he owes a debt to Walsh. “It was a risk for coach Walsh to pick me in the side after a long gap. I felt that I needed to deliver on the trust that was placed on me.”