Do you feel added pressure just because you are the only Indian chief coach here in the Hockey India League?

Delhi Waveriders coach Ajay Kumar Bansal was asked the question during the other day when the team’s jersey was released.

“Before I make my view, one correction. Not just the Indian coach, am the only ‘Kala coach’ here”, intervened Bansal.

That sums of the special status the Delhi based coach is in, and with that shoulder many responsibilities.

In the sea of important talent in the form of chief coaches in Australian Barry Dancer, The Netherlands’ Rolent Oltman, South Africa’s Clark and Richard Charlesworth, AK Bansal stands out as a lone Indian coach on Indian turf.

Is this a proud moment for him or an embarassment?

The answer to this lies in all pervasive Indian mindset and the historicity it had created. Let us see that.

Its not easy to be a known as national coach in India unless one is former Olympian. Leave out Cedric D’Souza, all the men’s national coaches that Independent India has had are former Olympians.

India is one country that hardly understood the difference between a successful player and a successful coach.

Therefore, its almost difficult for anybody other than Olympians to carve a niche for themselves on the coaching horizon.

A Cedric here, a Baldev Singh there come to the mind, who broke the tradition, and made a name for themselves without having a former international or Olympian tag.

Bansal belongs to this rare category.
AK Bansal, a National Institute of Sports (Patiala) degree holder in coaching, first served Haryana government before moving to Sports Authority of India, where he works now. Its here while he was posted in Orissa, he groomed many adivasi players such as Dilip Tirkey.

He has given fairly good results in the domestic circuit before taken to national side. He trained University, State and Academy teams (he was Air India Academy’s Director of Coaching for more than a decade, succeeding PA Raphel, who is now settled in Singapore) for long spells which elevated his status to higher levels.

Bansal was often entrusted with the coaching of Under-18 and Under – 21 teams which includes AHF Cup to Junior World Cup (2009); that’s his strength – of grassroot coach who came up to top step by step, not directly to senior men’s team.

He was also chief coach of Indian Women’s national team for a brief spell in the early 2000s.
However, what catapulted him to the national reckoning was now defunct, but epoch making Premier Hockey League.

Since not an international or Olympian, Bansal was given only Division II team (Orissa Steelers) in the PHL. But there is always a silver lining.

The winner of the six-team Division II will relegate the last ranked team of the Division I.
This is what he exactly did.

Bansal’s Orissa Steelers won the Division II and took the spot of Chennai Veerans in the senior Division. The success did not stop here.
His promoted team went on to win the PHL title in style, and that’s why Bansal today is a coach who counts.

His team went on to play the final of the 2008 Azlan Shah Cup, and lost to Argentina when Jorge Lombi, who played under him for Orissa Steelers, struck a golden goal.

To select a non-Olympian for a top job in India is a sin, and that is what Delhi Waveriders have done, so we have Bansal — who by now have won top coaching award (Dronacharya) and academic excellence with a Doctorate — in the comity of foreign coaches (gora which is opposite to Kala coach).

Not only that.

Delhi Waveriders is the only team that do not have single non-Indian in the support staff too.

Bansal has roped in a Meerut based physio, Bangalore based former great Sabu Varkey and Mumbai’s Dhananjay Mahadik (who played the 2010 World Cup) as coaches, while a masseur who did national duty on couple of assignments round up the support staff.

So, in many ways the course the Delhi Waveriders will take in the next three weeks will put the truly desi (native) coaching team under spotlight.