Harendra calls the shots as Brasa sidelined

New Delhi: Jose Brasa is officially the chief coach of the Indian hockey team, but on the eve of the Commonwealth Games, it became quite clear that Hockey India (HI) and Sports Authority of India (SAI) have joined hands to reduce the Spaniard to a figurehead.

According to sources in the team, currently camping at the Games Village, the man who is pulling the strings from sidelines is Harendra Singh, who, was initially appointed to assist Brasa.

“After his tiff with SAI over the salary and house rent issues, Brasa has been completely sidelined,” said a source in the team. “So much so that all of Brasa’s suggestions to prepare the squad for the CWG and the Asian Games have been ignored,” he said.

Brasa, who shot to fame after he guided Spain to an Olympic gold medal in women’s hockey in 1992, had requested the SAI to arrange for a series of matches against China before the Commonwealth Games but did not receive any reply despite repeated reminders.

“I can assure you that Brasa’s days are over with the Indian team,” said a senior SAI official. “His contract would not be renewed after the Asian Games.”

“In the World Cup, we conceded too many soft goals, especially when we went on counter attacks and it reduced us to the eighth place. We are not going to repeat the same mistake again,” said Harendra.

“Each time we lost the ball, we allowed the opponents to slip past us on the turn,” the coach said.

The Indian men’s team has never won a medal in hockey since the sport was introduced in the Commonwealth Games in 1998. India are placed in a tough group that includes World champions Australia, traditional rivals Pakistan and Malaysia.

After the World Cup, HI specially appointed Jugraj Singh to train the drag flickers. HI also went on record saying that Brasa had no knowledge of drag flick tactics.

“Jugraj’s appointment has yielded results,” said a team official. “During the tour of Europe recently, our drag flick expert Sandeep Singh was in great form and scored a series of goals.”

Fortunately, Sandeep, who was down with eye-flu for a few days, has now fully recovered. “ We are confident of a good performance. We are targeting a medal,” said Harendra.

The confidence did show when, drag flicker Sandeep Singh converted two penalty corners to help India inflict a 3-1 defeat on England in their second practice match ahead of the Commonwealth Games at the Major DhayanChand national stadium Tuesday.

Besides Sandeep, Tushar Khandekar chipped in with a field goal, while Ashley Jackson sounded the board for England.