New India hockey forward Aditya chases his Chak De! moments

Aditya Lalage, inspired by "Chak De! India," transitions from sugarcane farming to debut for India's hockey team, marking a remarkable journey

Aditya Arjun Lalage’s story proves how powerful and influential Indian cinema is or can be. All six members of the Lalage family living in Vadale village in Maharashtra’s Satara district knew only one thing – sugarcane farming. They had nothing to do with hockey.

New India hockey forward Aditya chases his Chak De! moments

Yet the youngest of them, Aditya, will be making his international debut for the Indian men’s hockey team in the two-Test series against Germany, to be played on Wednesday and Thursday.

It turns out that Aditya as a boy was watching the 2007 Shah Rukh Khan starrer Chak De! India on TV. He was so inspired by the film that he decided to become a hockey player.

“I remember like it was yesterday,” says Aditya as he was leaving for practice on Tuesday. “I saw the movie multiple times and loved it.”

Aditya decided to join a Krida Prabodhini academy (Maharashtra government’s scheme to identify talent at a young age) in Satara to become a hockey player. “I was always good in running and they tested and selected me because of that,” said the Maharashtra player.

Aditya had also made up his mind that he wanted to be a forward and score goals like ‘Preeti Sabarwal’ and ‘Komal Chautala’, the primary strikers in Chak De! India.

Aditya started learning the tricks of the trade and started performing well in local tournaments when seniors told him to attend selection trials in Pune, which had one of Maharashtra’s best Krida Prabodhini hockey training centres.

He enrolled into a government sports hostel in Pune and took up the sport more seriously. Aditya was extremely lucky as he got former India international and Olympian Ajit Lakra as a coach and mentor. Lakra not just identified Aditya’s talent but also cut the rough edges of the diamond he saw in the youngster.

After playing state level tournaments, Aditya started making his mark at national level sub-junior tournaments where he consistently scored goals playing for Maharashtra.

But unfortunately for him, the Maharashtra team was never strong enough to reach the business end of national level tournaments, at the sub-junior and junior levels.

Aditya decided that he had to stand out to realise his dream of playing for India. In many-a-tournament Aditya made solo runs in multiple matches to score goals and stand out for the selectors to take notice.

And they did. Despite Maharashtra not even making the knockouts of the 2022 Junior National Championship in Kovilpatti, Tamil Nadu, Aditya was selected for the junior national camp for the first time, after becoming Maharashtra’s highest goal-scorer in the tournament.

His knack of dodging past defenders and running at speed with the ball was noticed by the selectors who included him among the junior core probables.

Though he had to wait for a year, he finally made his junior India debut at the 2023 Junior Asia Cup where he helped India win gold in Salalah, Oman. He also played in the 2023 Sultan of Johor Cup where India finished third, before scoring three goals in the 2023 Junior World Cup where India ended fourth.

Though he couldn’t help India reach the podium, his performances didn’t go unnoticed as India chief coach Craig Fulton included him in the senior national camp earlier this year.

Once in the camp, the striker impressed the South African which led Fulton to select Aditya in the senior squad of 22, giving him the chance to share the frontline with Olympic medallists Mandeep Singh, Abhishek and Sukhjeet Singh, among others.

“He is an exciting new talent. As others are injured, it is a good chance for him to shine,” said Fulton.

The Lalage household, still busy with sugarcane farming and managing their cattle in Vadale, got two more reasons to rejoice this year. Six months ago, Aditya joined the Indian Navy as a Petty Officer.

The other delightful development came last week. Despite his base price of ₹2 lakh, Aditya was bought for ₹20 lakh in the Hockey India League auctions by Delhi SG Pipers, whose director of hockey is junior India coach PR Sreejesh. Having noticed him in the camp, the two-time Olympic bronze medallist knows what Aditya can bring to the table in HIL, which starts on December 28.

With his family happy and career on an upward trajectory, Aditya now wants to win major tournaments, like the India team did in Chak De! India. “Once in a while I still watch the movie. I really love it,” concluded the youngster.