“Brasa wasn’t keen on European Tour”

“Brasa wasn’t keen on European Tour”
Sandeep Singh spoke to Mobile ESPN in an exclusive chat before the Indians flew out on a 25-day tour in the wee hours of Friday.

By Ashish Bhardwaj

It was a mixed day for Indian hockey on Thursday. Even as the Hockey India logo was launched to signal the much-awaited amalgamation of the men’s and women’s federations, the senior national side had a harrowing time ahead of its European tour. A logistics blunder by the Sports Authority of India left the entire squad stranded at Pune airport. With an airlines refusing to take the players on board, the national team was left to fend for itself. Well, finally the team made it to Delhi, way behind schedule, and managed to take their flight to Amsterdam, on time!

Excerpts from a chat with skipper Sandeep Singh:

Ashish Bhardwaj: How important is this tour? You will be playing top teams like England, Belgium, Spain and Holland?

Sandeep Singh: The team will play four Tests against England and three each against Belgium and Spain at Birmingham, Antwerp and Terassa, respectively. Our last stop will be Amstelveen, where we play the Netherlands in two Tests before flying home. This will the team’s first full tour under new (Spanish) chief coach Jose Brasa. According to him, this will be a learning phase for the team. Actually, he wasn’t keen on an European tour at this stage. Brasa feels this is not the right time but this tour was already planned before he took charge. Brasa’s main aim is to produce our best performance in World Cup, Commonwealth Games and Asian Games next year. He wants us to be at our peak during these events. Effectively, we are taking the current tour as a practice assignment, nothing more.

AB: The team’s performance has been quite erratic of late. We were the defending champions at the Asia Cup, but we didn’t live up to our reputation. Why?

SS: There were many reasons for this. Firstly, before Asia Cup, we continuously played tournaments and the players were a bit tired. Secondly, injury to our main striker Shivendra Singh, proved to be a crucial factor. We lost to Pakistan and China after taking the lead. We could have scored more. Overall, you can’t say our Asia Cup performance was very bad. We are working on our grey areas and the good news is forwards Shivendra, Bharat Chikara, Ravi Pal Singh and Birendra Lakra are back and raring to go.

AB: Brasa was at the Asia Cup. How did he react after India lost?

SS: He said we played well but at the same time, Brasa pointed out a few flaws on which we worked at the Pune camp.

AB: We have had a few coaches in the last two-three years. How has Brasa made a difference? How is he different from Indian coaches like Harendra or Carvalho?

SS: At this stage, I can’t speak much on this.

AB: Dhanraj Pillay, one of the selectors, is against foreign coaches. How is Harendra gelling with Brasa?

SS: Dhanraj Pillay was not only a great player but is my idol as well. I can’t comment on his likes and dislikes and I can’t say whether he is right or wrong. As far as Harendra and Brasa are concerned, they are giving us the right training.

AB: Will injured Dilip Tirkey’s absence affect the defence on the European tour?

SS: An ankle injury has sidelined Tirkey. We will surely miss his experience. But Tirkey will be back in the next tour and training camp.

AB: Will goalkeeper Baljit Singh’s eye injury be a setback at this point of time?

SS: A last-minute blow to a first-team player is always a setback for any team. Having said that, Adrian (D’Souza) has the experience and is ready. Plus second goalkeeper P.R. Sreejesh has been training with the team for a long time and is a good back-up.

AB: Don’t you think national players should be insured after the Baljit incident?

SS: Hockey India and the team management can give a better answer.

AB: We are still conceding goals in the dying moments. What improvements have we made in the last 12 months?

SS: Our penalty conversion ratio has shown a massive improvement. In fact, we are currently better than the Europeans, whose rate hovers between 22 to 23 per cent. Our percentage is between 65 and 66 per cent, which is a decent number. I agree, we have failed to defend leads and lost matches at closing stages. It’s a concern that Brasa is addressing on top priority.

AB: India’s new mantra is “Total Hockey,” only 10 field players and a goalkeeper. It means Sandeep can be seen in defence and scoring field goals…Right?

SS: Let’s see how this experiment works. As far as I am concerned, I am ready to play wherever I am asked to.