The most notable omission in the list of Indian Olympic Association Ad-hoc Committee’s 48 probables who will form the core group of Indian hockey over the next two years was former captain Dilip Tirkey. But a closer inspection throws up a few more surprises.
Some of the national team’s regulars over the last few tournaments are conspicuous by their absence. Deepak Thakur, who was named the best player of the MCC Muruguappa Gold Cup recently, does not find a place. Even if one is to go by the selectors ‘grooming talent for the future’ theory, the omissions of the likes of Bharat Chikara, Vickram Kanth and Bikas Toppo – all have represented India at both the junior and senior levels – are glaring.
Fingers are also being pointed in hockey circles at some names that have made it to the list – Osafur Rahman, Mazhar Kamal, Mohammad Taj and Sunil Sonkar among forwards, and midfielder Koushalender. Interestingly, all five belong to Bhopal, and two of them – Sonkar and Kamal – are from Olympian Ashok Kumar’s Academy.
Except for Rahman, who is a regular on the domestic circuit, none of these players have played on even the domestic circuit. Mohammad Taj was part of the Railway’s camp at one time, but has never been part of their playing XI.
And Koushalender, who has made it past names like VS Vinaya and Bimal Lakra, has hardly played in the past one year, his only noteworthy performance coming from combined universities against team from Pakistan and Sri Lank in the Southern Asian Universities Championship in Amritsar. He, incidentally, is Ashok Kumar’s nephew.
When contacted, Ashok Kumar refuted any claims of bias. “They are all talented boys. Mazhar and Koushalender play for their universities, while Taj is the kind of skilled player Indian hockey used to be known for. Sunil Sonkar is a player for the future and, since this list of 48 will provide us with the junior team as well, we thought they should be in it,” said Ashok Kumar on the phone from Bhopal.
Ajit Pal Singh, Chairman of the selection committee, said: “There are fie selectors. We have to keep everyone’s suggestions in mind.”
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UTHRA GANESAN, INDIAN EXPRESS