Is Rajinder a correct choice? Before going into the topical issue, let us first wish him success. The former defender, top-scorer of the Bombay World Cup, is a thorough gentleman. He has acquired a coaching diploma from the prestigious NIS. He has been the coach for the Delhi Hockey Association for the past two decades. At national level, he took India A to Egypt twice (1999 and 2001) and handled India A again for the 2001 Pozan Under-21 Junior Challenge and the school boys for the Asian School Games. About forty days before the Hobart World Cup, he was given charge of the Junior World Cup, which India won. That’s why he is branded ‘lucky coach’. In short, he has handled just four or five tournaments. If this bio-data is sufficient to become the National Chief Coach, so be it. Unfortunately, Rajinder does not seem to be in touch with the fast changing world hockey scenario. Unlike C.R.Kumar, Bansal, Cedric D’souza and V. Baskaran, all former coaches, he has not attended any FIH coaching schemes. In short, it can be surmised that the coach is as inexperienced in his job as was most of his choice of players. It is sad national coach was selected without weighing all options, without talking to prospective hands, and without even interacting within the IHF set-up. Rajinder is Gill’s will. His unilateral choice.
A Perspective Look at the Selected Probables Selection process being what it is, let us probe the probables’s list. Only 8 from the KL World Cup team retained. They are goalkeeper Devesh Chauhan, Defenders Dilip Tirkey, Jugraj Singh, Kanwalpreet Singh, midfielder Ignace Tirkey and forwards Daljit Singh Dhillon, Prabhjot Singh and Deepak Thakur. Those dropped include captain Baljit Singh Dhillon, Dhanraj Pillay, Baljit Singh Saini, Lajrus Barla, Sabu Varkey, Sukhbir Singh Gill, Thirumal Valavan, Arjun Halappa and Bipin Fernadez. Jude Menezes has since retired.
On the face of it, it looks the idea behind the selection concept is to develop youngsters. For, six of the eight Junior World Cup boys who were in the KL team, were retained. Only Dilip Tirkey and Daljit Dhillon survived from the senior ranks, Tirkey very narrowly. But the idea of developing juniors too does not stand any strict scrutiny if one considers the names of other 20 probables. For, the likes of Baljit Singh Chandi, Sameer Dad, Dinesh Nayak and Ajinderpal Singh were no juniors. On the other side, Khalco, Arun Rawath, Iqbal Singh, Sunil Ekka were too raw, getting their first call for the national camp. The foursome are talented youngsters, but if the IHF wants them to groom, the best way is to rout them through the paces of Under-21 or India A camps before directly drafting them to senior ranks. Reports indicate the four players did exceedingly well in the U& I Itagi trophy, but can one swallow make a summer?
A close look at the players composition lend the view that those primarily not selected by the previous coach has been given a second look. This group include, Vikram Pillay, Bimal Lakra, Viren Rasquinha, Gagan Ajit Singh and Sameer Dad among others. It is not difficult to say if this is by choice or chance. What the message does then the new coach and the IHF want to convey? Do they want to prove Cedric D’ Souza’s selection of team for the KL World Cup was wrong? By taking in the players Cedric had dropped for the World Cup and dropping the players – ten in all, especially two youngsters in Arjun Halappa and Bipin Fernandez – Cedric had considered for the World Cup, it seems an ego clash is brewing up. It does not augur for any one.
World over the experience gained by the preceding coach is given due weightage. That’s why Charlesworth had Brian Glencross as high performance manager when he was in-charge of Hockeyroos and Korea’s former coach Kim Sam Ryul as stand-in manager in the KL World Cup. . But here in India, the previous coach is considered something like an enemy? Had the IHF been fair enough, it should have sought a report from Cedric D’Souza on the World Cup performance and given due weightage to his assessment before going for the kill. A national coach should have been identified keeping in view of the programmes that lie ahead. Luck should never have been a factor at all.
Cost of Ad-hocism
It takes of lacs of rupees to groom a player. What is the use if they are going to be dumped so soon? The IHF president has often been on record that they had three competent players for each group. Why then there are a dozen new faces and fringe players now for the camp? Is it mandatory to start from scratch every time? You can’t have a young national team, it has to be always a judicious mix of young and old. Lachlan Dreher, 35, and Graig Victory 21 form Aussie’s team just like Christian Mayerhoefer, 32, and Tibor Weibenborn 20 in German team. Ric Charlesworth in his treatise `Coach Managing for Success’ elaborates how it often became difficult to drop even one player. In the same book, K