145;Fitness, discipline not the issue146;

Is the Dhanraj Pillay issue really a raging controversy or is KPS Gill indulging in a favourite pastime, tossing red herrings as his critics...

Is the Dhanraj Pillay issue really a raging controversy or is KPS Gill indulging in a favourite pastime, tossing red herrings as his critics 8212; the media, the hockey alumni, anyone in public life with an axe to grind or point to score 8212; go purple in the face with outrage? Put it another way: Has Dhanraj really been dropped or is Gill, as he8217;s done in the past, winding up his detractors?

Tough to say and even a face-to-face session with him on Thursday evening doesn8217;t bring out any definite conclusion. In a voice as calm as it is steely, he simply says he never said anything about Dhanraj.

Everyone got it wrong: 8216;8216;Fitness was not the reason why he was dropped.8217;8217; Discipline, then? 8216;8216;I didn8217;t say that either.8217;8217;

So why is Dhanraj out of the squad when he should have been part of the high-altitude training schedule next week? He feints once before hitting a shot that curls through: 8216;8216;I have said that a couple of more players can be part of the Olympic probables.8217;8217;

Finally, you ask point-blank: Will Dhanraj be playing the Olympics? 8216;8216;How can I say now what the team8217;s shape will be? We will know it in June-July.8217;8217;

He then rounds on his favourite objects of criticism, the media. 8216;8216;The media has misled the public8217;8217;, he says.

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		nbsp;	8226; How can I change public perception 8230; there are a billion people 8226; We are building a team, not an individual 8226; Media has misled the public	nbsp;

Next, the politicians who have issued statements on Dhanraj8217;s behalf. 8216;8216;It8217;s their choice to express themselves. Nirupam or whatever his name is Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Nirupam8230;I know what his best interests are.8217;8217;

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There is a feeling in sporting circles that the Dhanraj controversy, only the latest in a long list of off-field incidents in the game, could harm a sport that is beginning to take off in India. Gill, though, doesn8217;t believe a PR exercise is necessary. 8216;8216;How can I change public perception8230;there are a billion people.8217;8217;

Forget the public. What about some words of reassurance for Dhanraj? 8216;8216;What can I say? The media should have understood that. We are building a team, not an individual.8217;8217;