SKrossi spoke to the media during the VCT Press conference before Global Esports’ first match of the tournament.
For Indian VALORANT fans, Global esports represents an opportunity. An opportunity for India to shine on the global stage. And at the front of this hope and opportunity is Ganesh "SkRossi" Gangadhar.
The 25-year-old Indian player is full of confidence as he awaited his first (and now only) match at VCT LOCK//IN Sao Paolo. Part of the confidence stems from him knowing he has made it. He achieved his dream of not just being a ‘national icon’ for esports fans in India, but representing the country on the biggest stage possible.
The road ahead, as is the case with ones that carve successful people, is paved with obstacles and is not going to be easy. But he is ready to adapt, to change however necessary to help the team.
Adapting to a new role
“It's a new challenge for me and it's like a reset for my entire thing (playstyle),” SKRossi said during the press conference before his game. “Because the past two years I have been playing only duelists and now it's a new role. I have to learn lots of new things about initiator, you know, calming myself down, not to give up my life easily in the game, like not taking unnecessary duels or not taking risks.”
He might restrain himself in his new role, but you still see glimpses of the old playstyle. Even today, in some circumstances, SKRossi channels his inner Duelist.
"I think when it comes to clutch situations or any other situations that are not planned, you know, I think that's where my inner duelist will come to life and just pop off but other than that in the initial stages I was just dry peeking stuff."
He had nothing but praise for the Global esports coaching staff and players.
“We have a really good coaching staff and players who helped me to develop as a really good initiator. I've been still working on that. But yeah, I think time by time I'll get better at this role. And yeah, dominate.”
Global Epsorts would go on to lose to Vitality but not without giving them a scare. Despite a relatively lackluster Map 1, the Pacific League team surprised Vitality with some exceptional performances and crisp aim on the second map. Unfortunately, they could not keep up the same level of performance in Map 3.
The results might not be what was expected, but it was also the first time the entire team was together. Due to visa issues, some players were unable to travel to South Korea for the bootcamp. Some of them met each other for the first time in Sao Paulo. And as such, some synergy issues are not unexpected.
Let's say, there's like 10,000 people watching me they want me to perform good. And if I perform well, It's good for me and it's a really good boom for Indian esports.
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Carrying the weight of Indian esports
Being the icon of Indian esports comes with its own set of responsibilities. Thousands of fans flock to his social media and live streams. They stay awake till 4 am to watch his matches and cheer for #GEFighting. But this fandom comes with a sense of responsibility, but ultimately it comes down to how the player views this responsibility.
"I get this question a lot 'There's a lot of pressure on you, a lot of people are expecting from you'. I'm like, No, this is a really good chance for me. Let's say, there's like 10,000 people watching me they want me to perform good. And if I perform well, It's good for me and it's a really good boom for Indian esports."
And SKRossi takes on this responsibility with a lot of confidence and pride.
"If I perform good on international stage (it's an achievement) because nobody has ever done it let alone play on an international stage. So I take that as a lot of confidence and a lot of pride in me. Like okay, there are so many people watching me, now I need to perform well. It's not pressure. I take it in a good way to become a superstar; If I play well, I'm a superstar. Yeah. So no pleasure. All good."
The Mumbai-based esports organization might not yet have a fully Indian roster, yet. But its lineup includes two players from India and hopefully, it will spur the development of esports in a market valued at $2.6 billion and slated to grow rapidly over the next couple of years.
Global Esports lost 1-2 to Team Vitality and are now eliminated from the tournament.
In this tournament or this match, I think it was like my 40% potential. And I can do so much better. It just comes with experience and more games, maybe on the big stages.
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