Away from the limelight, in quietly hip Pune, the Indian hockey team was purportedly preparing for the World Cup next year; it was doing a lot more
than that actually: it was learning to play hockey all over again.
Under the watchful eyes of an incredulous Spaniard, the players all but started from scratch as they embarked on the mission to regain hockey glory, if not the world crown itself. “The boys have the ability to score goals. So I have to worry about simpler things,” says Jose Brasa.
“The tough part is to teach them the basics,” the celebrated Spanish coach explains. Believe it or not, the former Olympic and World Champions – indeed once-kings of the game – have apparently lost touch with the very fundamentals of their beloved sport.
“Yes, hockey is a game of basics. Things like running with the ball, passing, stopping, defending etc require a simple, basic technique. Sadly, quite a few of the Indian players are not very sound in this aspect,” he adds. Suddenly, out of the blue, he roars in accented Hindi: “Upar dekho!”
As one follows his eye, Prabodh Tirkey comes into the picture. He has just received a pass and his head is bang on top of the ball. Good technique for cricket maybe, especially while playing shots; but a clear no-no in a sport that requires running with the ball and, at the same time, getting a full grasp of the field before you.
“Funnily, the players are very good at the difficult things,” says Brasa. But ironically, the disciplinarian believes that this skill doesn’t have much value in modern hockey; indeed, he wants the team to step out of that mindset and start playing differently.
On his drawing board, there is no place for individual play. “Get the ball and pass it with a maximum of two touches,” is his drill. Of course, a few other coaches have ventured on this path but with disastrous results; they had to abandon them all eventually and go back to India’s so-called strengths.
The 59-year-old is undaunted at the moment though. For him, the camp in Pune was more of an open-air classroom.
Clearly, he is not afraid of tinkering with what was all this while considered untouchable. Yes, they are revolutionary methods, but one doesn’t really know if India will find a pot of gold at the end of this journey.
Despite the odd grumble, players lapped it up. “We are doing things that we have not done before. In the past, we knew only zonal marking but now the focus is on man-toman . We are trying to adapt,” says striker Tushar Khandeker.
“Every player is taking the innovations with a lot of spirit. The entire team is excited about the new training regime,” says drag-flick expert Sandeep Singh. “He’s very different and better than our foreign coaches from the past,” he declares, unhesitatingly.
For Ignace Tirkey it’s a blast from the past. “We feel we are back in school. It’s as if he’s imparting training to kids,” says the senior midfielder, before adding, “But we don’t mind it at all. We have begun to realise that we played hockey the wrong way.”