If there was a player of the tournament award in the hockey competition, Tirkey, perhaps, would have been a front runner. He was undeniably as effective and strong in defence as skipper Dhanraj Pillay was in attack.

He stood like a rock in the deep, besides feeding the forwards constantly with fine passes. In the 3-1 semifinal win against Japan, two of India's goals were off his passes; one of them will be replayed time and again in our memories -- a crisp hit from the half-line to Dhanraj inside the circle.

But Tirkey would not claim any special credit for it. ``The entire team played well. The coach and the captain motivated us. They made us believe always that we were capable of winning,'' he said and added: ``Before leavingfor Bangkok, we had visited a temple, a mosque, a gurudwara and a church. We knew God was on our side.''

When queried on the mood in the team before and after the final, he said: ``We were prepared to go all out. After the final, some were in tears.'' Of course, he was not crying.

He would not mind revealing the team strategy. ``We were told to slow down the pace of the game because the Koreans are very fast and agile. But in the end, we realised the Koreans too had done their home work well.''

``During the shootout, the players were tense. But I knew Ballal would do it. In many domestic matches, I've seen him come out with saves in the shootout for our Indian Airlines team.''

Tirkey, though not used to the intense media attention on the team post-Bangkok, said he was unperturbed by it. ``I've got maximum satisfaction with my performance in the Indira Gandhi Gold Cup tournament. If I had not done well there I would be nowhere now.

``Now I want to do well in the Olympics and World Cup.''

Born in asleepy hamlet in the tribal district of Sudergarh, 23-year old Tirkey was destined to become a hockey player. His father played for Orissa Police. His two twin younger brothers are also in hockey. ``From my childhood, I was playing hockey. I never dreamt of becoming anything else. But I did not expect to be playing for the country at this level.''

Though many of his teammates complain about poor treatment to the team on return, Tirkey is not so unhappy. Though barely a few were present -- none from the government -- on his arrival at Bhubaneswar on Thursday night, he was happy at the reception accorded to him. ``I'm happy. It never happened to me before.''

What next ? ``I'll be going home from here. I've not spoken to my parents yet. We'll soon have a camp to train for the Indo-Pak Test series.''

And what about the team's Tirupati trip ? "The IHF will let us know about the trip soon,'' he quipped before setting out for the airport to receive his teammate from Orissa, Lazarus Balla, who returned to thecity on Friday.