Harendra blasts selectors

A day after one of the national selectors gave a statement telling senior players to perform or perish...

A day after one of the national selectors gave a statement telling senior players to perform or perish,Indian coach Harendra Singh lambasted them for giving such statements in the middle of an important tournament. He added that it was very hard for the players to play with full confidence against Germany in Tuesdays match.

It was very hard to convince the players to play with full confidence. Obviously they are hurt by the comments and I am proud of the performance today. If we win,it means everything for me.

In the middle of the tournament,if a selector gives such comments then it is very foolish of him. The team is playing well after a very long time and we need everybodys support, an emotional Harendra Singh told reporters after Indias win.

The coach also felt that the current batch of players,including the seniors,are in his scheme of things for the 2010 World Cup and 2010 Commonwealth Games. If a player is performing well,I guess he deserves to be in the team and we need to encourage those who are playing well, said Singh.

Facing severe criticism from the hockey fraternity for the omission of senior players in the list of 48 probables for the 2010 Commonwealth Games,the 2010 Guangzhou Asian Games and the 2012 London Olympics,the ad-hoc selection committee had reshuffled the list last year and shifted 11 players into the junior category to pave way for the veterans.

I am ready to take the blame. But it is very harsh of the selectors to point a finger to my players. Did they care for them when they were out of the team? Now when they have started to perform well in their comeback,there are questions about their performance. Is winning everything? asked Harendra.

Skipper Sandeep Singh said it was very hard for him to motivate the players. It was very hard to motivate them in the morning. The players were very hurt but we are happy with the fine performance, said Sandeep.

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Reacting to Harendras comments,Aslam Sher Khan said it was his personal opinion.

Nitin Sharma

Nitin Sharma is an Assistant Editor with the sports team of The Indian Express. Based out of Chandigarh, Nitin works with the print sports desk while also breaking news stories for the online sports team. A Ramnath Goenka Excellence in Journalism Award recipient for the year 2017 for his story ‘Harmans of Moga’, Nitin has also been a three-time recipient of the UNFPA-supported Laadli Media Awards for Gender Sensitivity for the years 2022, 2023 and 2024 respectively. His latest Laadli Award, in November 2025, came for an article on Deepthi Jeevanji, who won India’s first gold medal at the World Athletics Para Championship and was taunted for her unusual features as a child. Nitin mainly covers Olympics sports disciplines with his main interests in shooting, boxing, wrestling, athletics and much more. The last 17 years with The Indian Express has seen him unearthing stories across India from as far as Andaman and Nicobar to the North East. Nitin also covers cricket apart from women’s cricket with a keen interest. Nitin has covered events like the 2010 Commonwealth Games, the 2011 ODI World Cup, 2016 T20 World Cup and the 2017 AIBA World Youth Boxing Championships. An alumnus of School of Communication Studies, Panjab University, from where he completed his Masters in Mass Communications degree, Nitin has been an avid quizzer too. A Guru Nanak Dev University Colour holder, Nitin’s interest in quizzing began in the town of Talwara Township, a small town near the Punjab-Himachal Pradesh border. When not reporting, Nitin's interests lie in discovering new treks in the mountains or spending time near the river Beas at his hometown. ... Read More