Nobody can really vouch for the health of Indian hockey, these days. It catches a quick cold, develops nasty warts and mild rumbles in the belly turn into severe gastric problems. And all you need for that is one maladjustment, one key player falling out of the squad. That, some say, is a matter of lean confidence. Three such incidents have shaken the fundamentals of the set-up lately. When Jugraj Singh’s car rammed onto a lamp post, just before the Asian Cup, breaking the drag-flicker’s bones and heart, there was despair. Not too unreasonably, though. Even at that young age, Jugraj had taken the new-rules bull of hockey by its horns and was shaking the hillbillies out of established outfits. Seniors, even the tough-to-deal ones like Dhanraj Pillay, were rallying around this fearless kid, and adrenaline flowed from the gut.Visiting him in hospital, the Rajinder Singh-coached players promised a laurel and more success in the future. They came back with the yellow metal, sure, and posed for a somewhat sentimental photo-op with Jugraj, but thereafter the bottom fell out of Indian hockey. All major tournaments ended in disaster and Rajinder was quickly sacrificed in those toxic flames. The promise to Jugraj failed to last its projected life. Asian kings remained the international pygmies they had been for quite some time.The Athens Olympic Games were forgettable, as have been the rest after the Baskaran-led Moscow gold effort. India’s first and only foreign coach Gerhard Rach of Germany, slotted in midway the preparations for the Games, failed to provide any leadership and infighting in the team led to shame.Then skipper and defender Dilip Tirkey fell ill. That was another shock, a disabling systemic failure, simply because one link weakened and crumbled. India had no Plan B. The Champions Trophy was a mess, and it remained the same story of India conceding goals in the last few minutes. Pakistan’s comeback story in that can be a big chapter in hockey textbooks, the footnote saying how India allowed it. Only one key man was away, but oh so irreplaceable.And then a careless ASI of the Railways Protection Force made the Sandeep Singh ‘accident’ happen. And yet again it is time for the team to launch into a tournament, the Moenchengladbach World Cup. More importantly, it is a re-baptism, with fire, so to say, of coach Vasudevan Baskaran. Yet again, it is a key defender amiss. The drag-flick section of India’s international hockey scenario has been dragging its feet since Jugraj crashed out. Sandeep’s inclusion in the first XI, too, wasn’t a foregone conclusion soon after Baskaran took over on April 3, as Rajinder Singh (Jr) was sacked as coach. What Baskaran immediately understood was that stress had to be laid on field movements and field goals. Does that mean we will not really miss Sandeep at the World Cup?Hardly. He has been the bulwark of the country’s hockey performance for long and you either sacrifice a defender-scorer, or the fulcrum. Doesn’t it boil down to the same thing? The signs remain ominous, though.THE COACH AND THE PLAYER Vasudevan BaskaranCOACH: FIH-certified, he has guided:• Team that won silver at the junior World Cup in London, 1997.• Team which won the Sultan Azlan Shah Gold Cup in 1995.• Champions Trophy team (1996)• Indo-Pak Test series 1998 and the World cup 1998 sides. • Indian squad, which crashed to a 0-2 defeat against South Korea in the quarter final of the Sydney Olympic Games 2000. But he can take credit for breaking the 12-year old jinx of losing the opening matches in the last three Olympics.• Indian team to the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup this year, finishing with bronze.PlayerAs skipper won India’s last Olympic gold (after a break of 16 years), at Moscow. He took part in two Olympics, two World Cup tournaments and two Asian Games. Arjuna Award: 1979-80 Padma Shri: 1980.
