I want to see myself in India colours again: Jugraj

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KOLKATA: More than five years after a road accident brought his flying career to a standstill, drag-flick specialist Jugraj Singh still battles it
out to see himself back in the Indian jersey and is miffed for being part of the system which has lapses.

Once a posterboy of Indian hockey for his superb skills, Jugraj, who is representing Punjab Police in the Beighton Cup here, lamented at the state of affairs of Indian hockey and said the first requirement is to have a federation in place.

Lambasting the present Indian hockey set up — an ad-hoc committee, which looks after the federation which was disbanded by IOA last year — Jugraj said, “There are few lapses in the federation. Things cannot be smooth till we have a federation in place. It was very embarassing to see India not figure in Olympics…”

He claimed he was part of the system as he failed to get back his place despite recovering well from the injury.

He made a comeback for India for the Germany tour in 2006 before being left on the sidelines.

But he said the team must do well in the present and aim for a better show in future.

“We must not look into the past but should do well in the present and hope for a better show in 2010. There will be Commonwealth Games and World Cup lined up in 2010, I am sure if we do well the glorious days will be back.”

He stressed on the importance of developing coaching facility in India.

Giving his example, he said he was never taught drag flicking.

“I started drag flicking, seeing from TV. Nobody taught me this. The federation should look after the players, give enough coaching and infrastructure facility so as to see the sport come back to its glorious days,” he added.

He however has not stopped dreaming about making a comeback.

“I am doing very well now. I am playing all matches and can play the full 70 minutes on the field that shows that I’ve fully recovered. One day I would like to see Indian jersey on my body again,” he signed off.

“First I was called to be prepared. So I waited for six months, however there was no call-up and suddenly, one day I was called to appear before the trials which was not fair. Certainly, there are few lapses in the selection procedure,” he claimed.

Considered as one of the best in penalty-corner conversion, Jugraj met with the accident in September 2003 which nearly ended his brilliant career as he was out of action for 14 months.