After being ignored for almost six months, Devesh Chauhan is determined to prove himself as the number one goalkeeper of India.
Chauhan, who was in limelight just a year ago, is once again looking to prove his worth in the Champions Trophy, starting in Lahore on Saturday.
"Last year I was probably going through the best part of my career. The high point was the Champions Trophy and hope I will repeat this performance here [Lahore] too," said the 23-year-old, who impressed in the recent home series against Spain.
Chauhan showed glimpses of brilliance in the early part of his career but the 149-international veteran suddenly went out of form after the Amstelveen edition of the Champions Trophy last year.
The emergence of Adrian D'Souza only made life difficult for him to take the field with the 20-year-old winning the confidence of coach Gerhard Rach.
Rach's reliance on D'Souza was so much that Chauhan hardly got a chance to play in the last six months.
"That was a really difficult part in my life. I did not play even for one half in the last 26 matches. It was really difficult to come back after you are out for such a long time," the Uttar Pradesh player said.
"The confidence was down and my morale was low. It took a lot of determination and will power to come out of that phase. I am happy with my showing against Spain and hope to continue in the same way here," Chauhan said.
Chauhan was happy to find his form just a few days before his marriage to Shamita.
"Yes, it's good to see the coach reposing his faith on me; I spoke to my would be wife just before coming here and she said she was quite happy with my performance against Spain.
"She has also wished me luck," said Chauhan, who will tie the knot a day after returning to India on December 13.
The goalkeeper also had a word of praise for D'Souza, saying "he is a wonderful player and doing a pretty good job".
Now it is to be seen whether Chauhan or D'Souza gets the nod for tomorrow's match against Spain with the coach saying that it will be decided only before the match.
"Chauhan is a class player and D'Souza is also doing pretty well. Now we have to decide whom to field tomorrow, It's a big luxury that we have two fine goalkeepers," he said.
