Crown of Thorns

Crown of Thorns

With an undistinguished record behind him, new coach Harendra Singh needs to perform a near miracle to put things back on track for the struggling India

However hard they try, Indian hockey fans will find it extremely difficult to forget that fortnight in December 2006, when the national men’s team managed to plunge new depths in a sport they had once lorded over ruthlessly.

Consider these facts.

It was for the first time ever that an Indian men’s hockey team had lost to China. It was also the first time that India returned without a medal in the hockey discipline from the Asian Games!

Given the circumstances, heads were bound to roll and as is the case most often, chief coach Vasudevan Baskaran and his assistant Harendra Singh were given the boot first up.

A lot of water has flown under the bridge since then and as fate would have it, Harendra is back in the thick of things, this time at the helm of affairs of the Indian coaching set up, albeit temporarily. And, given his previous records — the period in which he was associated with the Indian squad — it wouldn’t be out of place to suggest that the ad-hoc committee running the affairs of hockey, has been extremely optimistic in their judgement!

Past imperfect

The 39-year-old former India defender also coached the Indian side that finished fourth at the junior World Cup at Rotterdam in 2005. Prior to that he had assisted Baskaran in 2000 as well, when India narrowly missed out on a semis berth at the Sydney Olympics.

To his credit, Harendra has been coaching the Air India side (formerly Indian Airlines) for a few years now. But, it’s not really surprising that they have been a dominant squad given the fact that the virtual who’s who of Indian hockey make up their side. Their recent successes include the Murugappa Cup and the Guru Tegh Bahadur Gold Cup victories earlier this month.

Harendra has take up the assignment at a time when the game is struggling to survive and it remains to be seen how things unfold till the time India’s tryst with a foreign coach begins again. In the meantime, the incumbent is making just the right noises.

Huge responsibility

“This is a huge responsibility, but I am confident of myself,” said Harendra. “I have known the boys for a long time and I feel they are an extremely talented lot,” he added. Although there’s no major tournament in the immediate future, India will have their hands full in 2010 when they will feature in the World Cup, Commonwealth Games and the Asian Games.

So how do they intend to ensure that they are in top form when these three mega events come around? “We will try to arrange as many international games as we can, and also focus on the camps,” said Harendra.

The ad-hoc committee which promised to bring about decisive changes in India’s national sport, after the KPS Gill run Indian Hockey Federation was sacked earlier this year, has hardly done anything of note till now.

What’s worse, Gill is still keeping them busy with court cases and then there’s JB Roy, the Bengal Hockey Association president who’s trying to garner support for himself so that he can stake a claim when the IHF is resurrected. Won’t all these developments leave the players feeling insecure?

“I don’t think that’s the case. The players will be keen to improve their performance and that’s what they will focus on,” said Harendra.