Though hockey is the national game of India and they are the eighttime Olympic gold medallists, Dhyan Chand’s country has failed to qualify , about which reams have already been written.

Canada, on the other hand, have been quietly but surely making their presence felt in the international arena. Their Olympic side boasts of four players — Ravinder Kahlon, Bindi Kullar, Sukhwinder Singh and Ranjeev Deol — who are of Indian origin, as also their manager Ajay Dubey .

So are they well versed with the goings-on of the game in the country of their origin?
“Of course I am,” Ravinder Kahlon told The Telegraph, shortly after Canada drew 1-1 with Britain in a league match on Sunday . “I have lots of friends in the Indian team, too. Prabhjot and Sandeep Singh to name but two.” “India have the best players in the world,” declared the 29-year-old, “…It’s a pity that they failed to qualify .” “It was a sad day for hockey when India did not make the cut,” agreed Kullar, who plays in defence. “In Canada so few players take hockey seriously… May be we just about have 30-35 players to choose from. Yet we are here and they are not.” So, being hockey players themselves, what, they think, is the reason for the sorry state of affairs in India?

“The structure of hockey back in India is not good,” Kahlon said without a minute’s hesitation. “And they are way behind in the level of coaching.” “You see,” the defender who lives in Vancouver, continued, “in Canada, the skills of the players are poorer. On top of it, there are a very small number of people playing hockey in the clubs all over the country . The level of hockey in the world is very high and sometimes Canada struggle to put together a team of international standards.” That despite having players of much higher calibre Indian hockey players are not in Beijing, is the irony, said Kahlon.

Kullar, for whom playing hockey is like following a family tradition, is not so well-informed with the coaching in India but he, too, pointed out that what Canada had lacked in quality, they have made up with their high level of coaching and organisation.

Kahlon started playing hockey during the three and a half years he spent in India during his childhood (between 1982 and 1986). He fell in love with the game and that love has landed him in Beijing.

But would they like to play for India? Kullar would like to play in domestic, if possible even in the national team, but Kahlon is very clear in his stand.

“My roots are in India but my heart is in Canada. While wishing the very best for the game in India, I would prefer to continue playing for Canada,” he concluded.