Indian Express: Banned again, Gurbaj Singh’s career comes full circle

Gurbaj Singh’s dream of representing India at the Rio Olympics may get hampered after HI banned him for 9 months.

A little more than a year ago, Gurbaj Singh made an emphatic return to the Indian squad after spending nearly 20 months in exile. From being Indian hockey’s pariah, he became a pillar so strong that in his absence the team’s right flank would get severely paralyzed. But in the fifteen months since scripting a comeback, the pillar has turned into a pariah once again. The 28-year-old defender, who recently completed 200 international appearances, was suspended for nine months effective Monday, August 10, for ‘creating groupism in the squad’ and ‘misbehaving’ with the coaches according to Hockey India’s disciplinary panel. The allegations against him were levelled by former assistant coach Jude Felix, who provided a feedback to Hockey India on his conduct in the last three international tournaments.

Gurbaj’s ban will be lifted on May 9, 2015, leaving the door ajar for him to return to the Rio Olympics-bound squad. However, it’ll take a miracle for him to get through. The ban will make him unable to play in all tournaments sanctioned by Hockey India, Asian Hockey Federation and International Hockey Federation, which means he won’t be able to compete in the Hockey India League and other domestic tournaments. Gurbaj has 30 days to lodge an appeal. The defender said he will decide on that after consulting relevant people. The suspension — which Gurbaj described as ‘harsh’ — comes as a surprise as all players, including skipper Sardar Singh, had come in defence of their teammate.

Sardar had recently said he was ‘shocked’ to hear about the allegations levelled against Gurbaj, while chief coach Roelant Oltmans too played down the issue, saying ‘it wasn’t as big as it was made to be’. But Gurbaj’s notorious past seems to have returned to haunt him. During the London Olympics, he had allegedly refused to play as a forward when then coach Michael Nobbs had asked him to. He was then accused of not cooperating with the coaching staff and was dropped from the team, and subsequently returned after more than a year, following a string of good performances domestically and an apology to Hockey India.

Showing discontent

The charges against him this time are on similar lines. In his report to Hockey India, Felix said Gurbaj showed lack of respect towards the Indian coaches, listening only to the chief coach. He was also accused of showing ‘discontent by refusing to play in any position other than the right midfield position.’ He was further blamed for creating ‘groups’ and ‘disharmony’ within the team, adding his ‘unacceptable’ behaviour was ‘not in the best interest of the team.’ A member of the disciplinary panel said the London 2012 incident was reviewed during the meeting. “It’s important that such an incident does not take place once again so it was necessary to take strict action against him this time. It’s not that we have taken this decision based on one incident. We monitored it over three tournaments and there his behaviour wasn’t encouraging,” the member said.

Gurbaj felt hard done by the decision, saying ‘it felt like they had already believed I was guilty before the hearing began.’ “It’s disappointing but I am hopeful of finding a solution to this. I don’t know what made them file this report. I can’t think of doing anything that would harm the team. My aim is be in the squad for the Olympics,” Gurbaj said. But his absence is sure to leave a big hole on the right flank. Gurbaj’s importance in the team cannot be understated.

In terms of impact on field, he is as good as — if not better — than skipper Sardar Singh. Among the fittest players in the team, he formed a great combination with Dharamvir Singh and SV Sunil. Most of India’s attacks in the recent tournaments were engineered from the right, with Gurbaj initiating most of them. Hockey India’s disciplinary panel head Harbinder Singh conceded he is an important player for the team but insisted discipline cannot be compromised. “He can still make it to the Olympics. The ban ends in May so there will still be two-three months for him after that. And if his appeal is upheld, then he can return to the squad immediately. I don’t think his Olympic dream is over,” Harbinder said.