Oltmans not looking too far ahead

A fresh chapter in Indian hockey opened here on Tuesday as the National camp for the Asia Cup commenced under Roelant Oltmans. The tournament represents India’s last chance of qualifying for the 2014 World Cup, although the Dutchman — Hockey India high performance director, but temporarily in charge of the senior team — does not wish to look too far ahead.

“I’ve made one thing clear — we’re going there to win the Asia Cup,” he said at the Sports Authority of India. “We’re not even talking about the World Cup. It is next year; it is of no interest at the moment.”

The 48 probables, who will be whittled down to roughly half that number in two weeks’ time, were put through gruelling physical tests on the opening day of the camp. With the Asia Cup scheduled to begin on August 24 in Ipoh, Malaysia, the team does not have the luxury of time.

“These six weeks are going to be very important; we will work without distractions,” Oltmans said.

“Every player starts from scratch. It is up to each one of them to convince us. We’ll play a little differently from before. It is clear we have to improve.”

Although he accepted there would be changes, Oltmans insisted that no style of play would be forced on the team. “We are Indians. We will play in a way that uses our strengths; it is our own way. India is India, not Holland or Germany or Australia. And that’s what we’ll prove,” he said.

Specialist ’keeper

Oltmans and his deputy M.K. Kaushik put the squad’s goalkeepers through a long session on Tuesday. The former later revealed that a specialist goalkeeping coach would be hired soon. “We are finalising details; he (the coach) will be here in the beginning of August. He will come with us to Malaysia as well,” he said.

Oltmans’s time at the helm of the senior team is not meant to be permanent and a new coach will be appointed after the Asia Cup. Candidates, though, would have to be aligned with the existing way of doing things, the 59-year-old said.

“We will ask potential new coaches for their ideas. If people are completely different in their approach, they’re probably not the right persons to coach the Indian men’s team.”

Interestingly, as a longer-term measure, Oltmans expressed the desire to improve his players’ command over English.

“It’s important in order to communicate not just with the foreign coach, but with umpires for video referrals and opponents,” he said.