Hark back to the Jugraj incident

The strapping lad Sandeep Singh was shot at accidentally by an ASI Mohar Singh of the Railways Protection Force (RPF) on board the New Delhi-bound Kalka-Delhi Shatabadi Express on Monday morning. The injury in the lower back is serious enough to rule him of the World Cup scheduled to start from September 6.

It may take many months for Sandeep to recover fully and get back to the hockey field.

Jugraj had suffered multiple fractures in that car crash near Jalandhar in September 2003; the injury to Sandeep too has left the entire Indian hokey team in disarray. It may be mentioned that Jurgaj at that time was regarded as one of the world’s top drag flickers, and had also made remarkable improvement in his tackling skills as a defender. India struggled to find a suitable replacement for Jugraj until Sandeep burst into prominence in April 2004.

Shahbad-born Sandeep had then single-handedly led India to victory in the Junior Asia Cup at Karachi in April 2004 where he scored a whopping 16 goals. His performance caught the eye of the Indian Hockey Federation (IHF) selectors. Then aged 18, Sandeep was inducted into the senior Indian side that played in the four-nation warm-up events prior to the Athens Olympics.

Thereafter Sandeep along with another promising junior Adrian D’Souza, a goalkeeper, were selected to don the Indian colours in the Athens Olympics.

Though hockey experts questioned the selection of Sandeep saying that he wasn’t ready for the big league, IHF kept faith in him and gave him enough chances to play in other major international competitions including the India-Pakistan Test match series in October 2004 and Champions Trophy in Lahore in December 2004.

Since then the Indian Airlines player has blossomed as a utility player. Not only his drag flicks, but his defending abilities, in doubt for some time, improved. Chandigarh Dynamos coach Narinderpal Singh Sodhi, who had the chance to train Jugraj and Sandeep during the Second PHL earlier this year, also vouched for the fact that Sandeep had matured as a player.

“It is just like tragedy re-visited. We lost Jugraj when he was peaking as a player and now Sandeep too has suffered the same fate,” said Sodhi, who was the coach of the Indian hockey team during the 2002 Asian Games and Champions Trophy in Cologne (2002).

Coach Harinder Singh who spent most of Tuesday at the hospital is candid: ‘’There are no replacements for any player. Each player has a quality or a trait. The damage is irreparable. Without Sandeep we are only 40 per cent our strength,’’ he said.

“When I visited him in the hospital he told me ‘I want to see the team finish on the podium.’ I hope these words motivate the team,’’ he added. Even while at Eindhoven, the club he played for in Holland, Singh scored eight goals-seven of those being short corner conversions.

(With inputs from Sudheendra Tripathi, Mumbai)