Not long ago, India ignored senior players for the Milton Keynes Olympic Qualifier and ended up with wooden spoon. Not even a year past since the humiliation, we witness another analogous round being enacted. For reasons of its own, the Indian Women Hockey Federation has sidelined four eligible and experienced players for the Junior World Cup which is to start at Buenos Aires this week.
The missing stars include Suraj Lata Devi, who led India to bronze in the last year Junior Asia Cup, Sunita Dalal, Neha Singh and Surinder Kaur. These girls were also part of the dream Indian team that won the silver in the last Asian Games and Asia Cup. Misplaced priority, narrow vision and even inter-Railway rivalry seemed to have guided the selection process rather than much needed prudence and global mission.
After being a bystander for the last three editions, India got a rare chance to be in the ambit of Junior World Cup this year due to some pullouts and enlargement of field from 12 to 16. Instead of grabbing the godsend opportunity with both hands as would any competition-starved country, and build on the future with reasonable performance, India has surprisingly placed an inexperienced team at the altar. Indian girls hardly get two tournaments in a year much against four times the number by their male counterparts.
Average age of the chosen team with Mamta Kharab at the helm is 19; two players are below 16 and 10th standard students; 13 out of 18 players never played single match at senior level. Surprisingly, one girl is making her debut in the World Cup! This is completely out of sync with the global practice of countries packing their teams with as much experienced hands as much available.
Australia captain Angie Skirving is an Olympic gold medallist, twice played Champions Trophy and has been in the senior teams since 1998. Save one player, no one in the ranks of the defending Champion Netherlands is below 18. So also the case of South Korea.
Contrarily, despite having a pool of senior players to choose from, the IWHF preferred to plough a lone furrow and swim against the current.
Coach Satinderwalia justified raw hands in the team as `they are future materials’. Is then the World Cup is not his focus? He placed coming Asian Games on priority but on second thought agreed both are equally important to him.
The irony is these four girls will still be under-21 when the next Asian Games unfolds at Doha next year whereas their replacements would have added only a year more experience. His argument pales into insignificance against the track record of Surajlata, Neha and Sunita, who all played Utrecht World Cup, Kuala Lumpur Commonwealth Games and Olympic Qualifier among others.
At least the IWHF can explain the trio absence to them being in the senior team that would tour New Zealand next month, but the ignoring the claim of Surinder Kaur is horrendous to say the least.
Only five moths ago, Surinder led India to victory podium in the AHF’s Championship in Hongkong, where she topscored(14 goals) and was declared the Player of the Tournament. The Haryana hurricane is a veritable goal-machine and has been in the ranks of senior and juniors since four years since making her senior debut in 1997 South Africa tour. She and Mamta would have added great teeth to the frontline but the powers that be broke the partnership.
Insiders claim Surinder’s omission was not due to any policy matters as much as it was inter-railway rivalry and ego clashes. The IWHF too have taken sides instead of nipping the problem at the bud.
It all started with Surinder’s request for a month’s rest from the never-stop preparatory camps early this year which the IWHF did not take kindly and dropped her for the next camp. Still, she went for the trails only to be disallowed. It is gathered Satinderwalia was upset Surinder had taken part in the inter-railway tournament held in March this year at Ludhiana (Punjab) against her advice.
Olympic gold medallist Ashok Diwan, former national coach and currently coach of the Northern Railway asks angrily, “Why won’t she play inter-railway? Because Western Railway should win, not we?” Incidentally, Satinderwalia is the coach of the Western Railway. Adds Diwan, “I know they are out to discredit Surinder. She was given all sorts of trouble at the Chennai camp. On a small pretext of her request from one camp, they have dropped her. Still, we advised her to report for the trials though player of her stature does not require to prove her mettle again and again. I have not even played her in the Inter-railway except in two matches. But her presence is a must as she is enrolled in our unit.”
However, when contacted, Amrit Bose, Secretary, IWHF, refused to dwell on the matter, except saying, “You should ask these question to my president, not to me”. When reminded she is also the Secreta