All-rounders, the new mantra in Indian hockey

V Narayan Swamy, TNN 23 July 2009

BANGALORE: No positions, no designations. Only 10 field players and a goalkeeper. That’s the theory Indian hockey will have to tune itself to as
it embarks on a journey to Europe in the wee hours of Friday.

Hours before their departure, the 22-member squad and the coaches reach New Delhi from Pune to visit injured goalkeeper Baljit Singh in the hospital and participate in a function which will officially see the launch of Hockey India’s new logo. But what is bound to occupy their minds throughout – besides Baljit’s recovery and well-being – is their collective role as all-rounders, attackers when in possession and defenders when they lose the ball.

Nothing new to those aware of modern hockey but what’s definitely new is the way the players have been told by chief coach Jose Brasa what they ought to do during the four-nation tour. One is a seamless switch between attack and defence with every player required to chip in in every position and two, execution of two basic tasks which have been assigned to them during the camp.

“Our main objective is not winning in Europe,” coach Harendra Singh told TOI. “We want to achieve some sort of efficiency in man-to-man marking and full-court press. We have been working on these lines at the camp in Pune and we want to put that to test during the matches.”

So much so that the squad, now been pruned from 24 to 22, has just one defender in Sandeep Singh. He is also the team’s only dragflicker. The other defender and dragflicker, VR Raghunath, finds himself out of the squad along with midfielders Ravipal Singh. They have been asked to report for the next camp starting in Pune on August 24.

“We are not perturbed that Sandeep is the only defender. Now that the boys have realised that they would have to perform every role on the field, I don’t think we would be underserved in any particular area.”

At the same time, Harendra pointed out that the 13 matches that India are scheduled to play in England, Belgium, Spain and Holland would serve as an apt pointer to the progress the team has made. “It’s time for the boys to show how mentally tough they are. We have given them realistic targets to achieve and hope they would show good progress.”