Indian team was nervous at the Chile Olympic Qualifier and lacked in the measure of mental toughness that was required to play in such tournament as the Chile one, where one single mistake can spell doom. So Indians did not have it in them and lost out to a team that was well prepared for the situation.

What is wrong in saying, yes, we lost to a better team. Herein lies the sportsman spirit, and we were all happy the Indians, after losing the crucial tie on Sunday, took a walk on the turf, waving to the crowd that supported them in a big way. The Indians gesture felt nice, and it is what sport is all about.

Why all of a sudden the coach who failed the country, Joaquim Carvalho, points a finger at the umpiring? Without talking much on the subject, we can easily say the coach, who is running for cover, and have to live his lifetime on the manner his team played the finals – there was not even semblance of fight coming from the Indians, contrarily to New Zealand and Argentina’s nerve wrecking feat in the first of the three Qualifiers, at Auckland – unnecessarily brings umpiring for his failure. This is a clear case of cover up, perhaps this view sells in India, as recent David Bucknor issue proved in cricket

A seasoned coach would never say like this.

Do you think coaches all over the world are happy with umpiring? Certainly, not. Not even the FIH. That’s why the world body is pumping a lot of money into improve this vital aspect of the game. We even have the third umpire in place nowadays. For an amateur sport like hockey third umpiring comes at a heavy cost. The FIH, never an affluent body, still manages to spend on that.

I only imagine what the likes Colishaw and the conservatives like him would have reacted to third umpiring concept. They would have certainly branded us hockey killers.

We for sure know why the Indian coaches talk of umpiring. It sounds music to the ears of IHF chief KPS Gill, who in an interview the other day exactly said the same. You can always excuse him because we are all aware of his hockey knowledge. But Carvalho saying is not acceptable.

In stead Carvalho should concentrate on why his boys could not even stop the ball in the penalty corner drills and never had a single good shot at the goals. That too in case if he wants to continue coaching. Thankfully, he has taken a wise decision to resign, and we all welcome this. Or does he find any chance to stay put and the resignation is only for media consumption. Remember, except Rajinder Jr, none of the Indian coaches ever resgined, all were only kicked out.

Thankfuly further, Indian umpires have unitedly come forward and disapproved Carvalho’s claim.

There ends the matter