HARPREET KAUR LAMBA

New Delhi

Oct. 2: India’s preparations for the 2010 hockey World Cup in March suffered a huge dent on Friday when Hockey India cancelled the upcoming home series against China and Germany, scheduled for November.

Part of the team’s original plan ahead of the mega-event, the Men in Blue will now be short of some serious match practice, according to chief coach Jose Brasa.

Said Brasa ahead of the team‘s departure to Canada on Friday night, “It seems that Hockey India has run out of money, or better said, I have been told by Hockey India that because of lack of money probably the matches to be played in India in November, will be cancelled.”

India were supposed to play the top Asian side China (November 13 and 15 at Pune), and Olympic gold medallists Germany in a two-match series (November 20, 22 at Chandigarh). The cancelled series sent Brasa’s original plans for a toss forcing him to change the Canada-bound Indian team at the last minute.

“I was put in a position where I was forced to make some changes. We have six new players for the Canada series compared to the European tour. These changes in the team are not very crucial, and I think we can manage it,” said Brasa.

“Also it doesn’t mean that the players chosen now are better than the ones left behind. Since we only play the Champions Challenge I in December now and a four-nation tournament at New Delhi in January 2010, the Canada series is our last chance to test the bench strength.”

Though Hockey India officials brushed aside Brasa’s claims saying “there was no truth in the matter. It seems Brasa has a language problem,” it is apparent that the team’s preparations aren’t headed in the right direction.

Another worrying factor is the delayed construction work at the National Stadium here, venue for next year’s World Cup.

As per the International Hockey Federation rules, the host nation should conduct at least one big event six months prior to the event, in order to test the venue.

But with the National Stadium’s construction work going on at a crawling pace, it is unlikely that the team will be able to practice at the venue before December, let alone host an event.

As of now, the Stadium is 60 per cent complete, and the Commonwealth Games Committee in charge of the construction work has set December 21 as the completion date, barely two months prior to the World Cup. Said Brasa, “It should have been much better to play the matches as scheduled in November, but we will continue to do our best instead of crying or finding excuses.”

Ranked 12th in the world, Brasa knows a good show at the World Cup will bring Indian hockey back into the spotlight. But with the odds stacked against them, how and when the Indian team will make up for lost time is anybody’s guess.

Though Brasa emphasised that “the authorities were doing the best they could for the Indian team”, his final words were an eye opener.

“We will play a four-nation before the World Cup in Delhi from January 13-17, which is very vital.

“On February 28 — the opening day of the World Cup — the Indian team will arrive having faced all these problems, and it will be a positive thing for us. There will also be no stress because nobody can ask us to win any match under these training conditions. Our mind and conscience will be immaculate because we have put our maximum effort to get there as fit as possible using the sources that have been put in our hands,” said Brasa before signing off.