M R NEGI: “Kaushik had unique qualities”

By NANDAKUMAR MARAR

MUMBAI: Mir Ranjan Negi and M K Kaushik, goalkeeper and forward, part of Team India men’s squad at 1982 Mumbai World Cup and later post-retirement sharing responsibilities as part of Team India coaching staff at the 1998 Bangkok Asian Games, were poles apart in personality and obsessed with the task at hand. The two teamed up as assistant coach and chief coach respectively at Bangkok.

The latter, a gold medallist from the Moscow Olympic Games squad 1980, was firmly in charge as India stormed to the men’s hockey gold at the Asian Games. Captained by a mercurial Dhanraj Pillay, the beat South Korea via penalty-strokes in the title clash, cheered by a packed stadium in Bangkok.

Negi recalls: “Kaushik used to go into a trance at times as coach and never used to speak about any other news, except hockey. I used to be the balancing factor, trying to defuse tense situations to keep the flow going and also act like a sounding board for his ideas. If he scolded players, I tried to bring them around. Our hot and cold treatment worked,” he says, in a chat from Indore.

A master in player-handling, the winger-turned-coach carried the team along with him. The ex-India goalkeeper recalls: “Kaushik had this unique quality to involved the senior players in planning and discipline, which helped to a large extent. There was no junior or senior in the squad, all players were equal for the team management and “no ridicule” policy was the norm.”

Ashish Ballal in goalkeeper saved two penalty-strokes in his usual intimidating style, Mukesh Kumar converted his penalty stroke, India’s fourth, sealing an emotional victory. Negi recalls an off-the-field incident about Mukesh to explain how Indian coaches go beyond the call f duty to get the best out of the squad. “Mukesh, whose stroke clinched us the gold, saw performance nose-dived early in the
tournament. We were perplexed,” recalled Negi.

The reason was unique. Mukesh fell in love with Nidhi Khullar, member on the India women’s team by then, so focussing on hockey was tough.“When asked to explain the dip in form, Mukesh revealed the emotional turmoil. Kaushik and me called Nidhi’s parents in India and sought their opinion. The parents left it to their daughter to decide. We conveyed their feedback to Mukesh and asked him to go out and win the title for India, then get married.”

Mukesh and Nidhi are life partners, the bonding in Bangkok going to the natural conclusion as the chief coach and assistant played match-makers. “A foreign coach may not get involved with such an issue. Kaushik and me knew Mukesh Kumar value to the team and so went out of the way to bring his focus back to hockey,” said Negi, who recalled the rapport between him and Kaushik as players from Mumbai in national camps, sustaining when in charge of Team India

Negi struggles to come to terms with Kaushik passing away. “It is a personal loss. We spent a long time together in Mumbai on the hockey field, together with M Somaya, Joaquim Carvalho, Mervyn Fernandes, Marcellus Gomes. Our bonding was out of the world. The support from
Kaushik to me after the 1982 Asian Games hockey debacle helped me immensely (Pakistan thrashed India in the final 7-1 before a live audience nationwide).”

Life changed forever for the India goalkeeper from then on, the next taste of victory was when Team India climbed the podium at Bangkok Asian Games in 1998 to receive the gold medals, watched by proud coaches. Negi represented Mumbai Customs in goal at the Mumbai league, Kaushik turned out for Tatas SC on the wing. Two distinct persons, performing at extreme ends of the pitch during competitive years, then bonding at Bangkok as part of the national coaching staff, have many moments to cherish.

Display Pic Caption: Accorded warm welcome after Kaushik returning from Moscow with Olympic gold

Photos: K. Arumugam collection