48 probables, nine standbys in Hockey national camp

BANGALORE: Look no further than Indian hockey for drama and intrigue. In what may be a first of sorts in recent times, the game saw standbys being named for the national training camp scheduled to begin in Patiala on October 15, when a list of 48 probables has already been released.

What has led to raised eyebrows is that all the nine players on the standby list had played in the rebel World Series Hockey (WSH) league, including Gurjinder Singh of Punjab who had won the best defender of the tournament award at the Hockey India Nationals here recently.

These standbys, thus, are not eligible to join the national camp as they are serving a “cooling period” of one year. So why have these standbys?

HI secretary-general Narinder Batra argued that the standbys had been named to counter dropouts or injury. But he did not have a convincing answer when he was told that only WSH players were on the list.

“We have named standbys in order to ensure that we have replacement players on hand if some players drop out or get injured,” Batra said. “But I have no idea if somebody who is facing curbs is on the list.”

When asked what stopped Hockey India from including WSH players among the probables, Batra said: “People cannot commit mistakes and apologize for it. According to FIH rules, there is a cooling period of one year for players under restriction.”

The selectors too washed their hands off the affair. “We have done our job of picking the best players from the National Championships,” said Col Balbir Singh.

“Since they (the WSH players) are among the standbys, they cannot join the camp. Only Batra can tell when they can join the camp.”

Meanwhile, 15 members of London Olympics team find themselves in the 48-member list, with the only missing player being midfielder Gurbaj Singh.