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Journalism of Courage
Four years after he hung his boots, former captain Sardar Singh is back in the Indian set-up. This time, as a coach. And its not just him. Some of the biggest names in Indian hockey, who had called it quits, have been recalled to the core group of the ‘A’ team for this year’s Commonwealth Games in Birmingham.
Tokyo Games medalists Rupinderpal Singh and Birendra Lakra along with forwards SV Sunil and Ramandeep Singh; the quartet that had retired soon after the Olympics last year, are all back. And they will be coached by their former captain, Sardar, at the India ‘A’ camp at SAI Bengaluru from Monday. Another former India star, Deepak Thakur, too, makes a return after he was named as the women’s ‘A’ team coach.
Sardar and Deepak will prepare the teams for the Commonwealth Games, which get underway in Birmingham on July 27.
Indian Olympic Association president Narinder Batra, who is the former Hockey India chief, had recently said India would send its second-string men and women teams for the CWG, given its proximity to the Asian Games.
The Asiad assumes more significance for the hockey teams, given the gold medal winners will get a direct spot at the 2024 Olympics.
While the appointment of Sardar and Thakur is a huge boost for homegrown coaches, the recalling of retired players gives mixed signals regarding the talent pool. Hockey India president Gyanendro Ningombam, in a media release, called the team selection a ‘positive development aimed at widening the talent pool.’
It must be noted that the main 33-player core group will continue to train separately for the Pro League and the Asian Games under Graham Reid. The ‘A’ team primarily consists of players who had impressed in the national-level tournaments and last year’s Junior World Cup. So, in a way, this widens the player pool.
However, forcing the former players out of retirement can also be viewed as a vote of no-confidence against the new generation of players, especially because some of the players who have been recalled were told just six months ago by the team management that they did not feature in the national team’s plan.
Rupinderpal, Lakra and Sunil announced retirements soon after the Tokyo Olympics, and had said at the time that one of the reasons for them calling it a day was to hand over the baton to the next generation.
Hockey India will expect that the quartet share their valuable knowledge of playing tournaments like the CWG with other players in the ‘A’ team, who barely have any experience of playing international hockey.
Second rung undercooked
This, indirectly, is also an acknowledgement of the fact while all the focus in the last few years has remained exclusively on the core group of 30-odd players, the second rung remains undercooked.
Post-Hockey India League, the domestic system was producing players who lacked the understanding of defensive structures, were unable to identify the opponent’s defensive patterns and had poor off-the-ball movements, among other technical deficiencies that became glaring at international level. Rupinderpal, Lakra, Sunil and Ramandeep, all top quality players in their prime, will be expected to bridge that gap. For someone like Ramandeep, who has been sidelined for a while, this could be an opportunity to fight his way back into the main team.
While the player selection might trigger a debate, the appointment of Sardar and Thakur as the men and women’s ‘A’ team coaches, respectively, is a positive development for Indian coaches.
Hockey India, in the last few years, has put emphasis on coach education through various certification programs. The result of that is visible as many recently-retired players are involved in the system as coaches. Apart from Sardar and Thakur, former players Tushar Khandker and Shivendra Singh, too, are involved with the main women and men’s teams respectively.
Whether Sardar and Thakur coach the teams at the CWG – or if Reid and Janneke Schopmam will take charge closer to the Games – remains to be seen.
Hockey India has made it clear in the past that CWG does not feature high on the priority list despite the high level of competition. They had, in fact, pulled out of the CWG last year before making a U-turn.
The reason given to not take part in it was a packed international calendar, and the short turnaround time between the CWG and Asian Games; around a month.
Malaysia have withdrawn their hockey teams from the CWG for the same reason. Now, with the appointment of former players as coaches and by recalling the retired stars, there will suddenly be a lot of significance to what was otherwise an inconsequential tournament for Indian hockey.
