Baskaran takes over from Pargat

It was an unusual meeting. The core group of selectors — KPS Gill, K Jothikumaran, Cedric D’Souza, Zafar Iqbal, M M Somaya, Ajit Pal Singh and Joachim Carvalho — met to select 24 probables for the forthcoming Test series against Pakistan. As they sat in a corner of the lawn deliberating the fate of the players and coaches, the coaches — Pargat Singh, V Baskaran, C R Kumar, Ramesh Parameswaran and Balwinder Singh — awaited their fate a few steps away.

The Federation gave Baskaran charge only for the Indo-Pak series and also put thecoach in a dilemma by saddling him with a team comprising of four players he described as “over the hill” yesterday.

Gill, when questioned on the issue of continuity of coaches, said, “We will review the performance of this team against Pakistan,” adding later, “We can’t help it if Indian coaches do not want to be accountable for four years.” Ironically, both Pargat and Baskaran had expressed their willingness to commit themselves for four years and more. Pargat was, in fact, appointed as the coach for four years.

Baskaran tried to explain that “he had been misquoted” on the senior players’ issue. “I never called for axing Pillai, Mukesh, Ramandeep or Gavin. I just said that they are unfit,” he said.

While Baskaran maintained that the players are rusty as they did not play international matches for several months, Pargat’s contention was these players are tired as they have been playing too many domestic matches.

Baskaran commented on Pargat’s removal, saying, “I had requested him to stayon, but he did not seem interested. Anyway, my concern is to bring some cohesion in the team, which was missing in the series against Germany.”

Among the notable names to have staged a comeback in the team include goal-keeper A B Subbaiah and half-back Mohammed Riaz, who were earlier injured, and defender Anil Aldrin, forwards Rajesh Chauhan, Brojen Singh and Altaf-ur-Rehman. The selectors have decided to stick to the eight juniors who represented India in Milton Keynes.

The post of hockey manager — given to Somaya now — was created by the IHF at the Hyderabad Federation Cup, with Baskaran being the first appointee. However, the IHF hurriedly scratched the post as Baskaran came in as chief coach when Pargat was laid down with chicken pox.

Team

Goal-keepers: Jagdish Ponappa, Bopanna, R V S Prasad, A B Subbaiah. Full backs: Dilip Tirkey, Lazarus Barla, Ajay Kumar, Anil Aldrin, Dinesh Nayak. Half backs: S S Gill, Mohammed Riaz, Thirumal Valavan, Ramandeep Singh, Anwar Khan, Baljit Singh Saini.Forwards: Mukesh Kumar, Dhanraj Pillay, Rajiv Mishra, Gavin Ferreira, Harbhajan Singh, Rajesh Chauhan, Samir Dad, Brojen Singh, Altaf-ur-Rehman. Coaches: Vasudevan Baskaran, C R Kumar. Manager: M M Somaya.