AFTER being replaced by Rajpal Singh as India captain, injured defender Sandeep Singh is a doubtful starter for the upcoming Champions Challenge tournament in Salta, Argentina from December 6 to 13. According to chief coach Jose Brasa, the drag-flicker, who developed severe back pain after returning from Canada, will be subjected to tests in the coming days and the result will decide if he will be on the flight to Argentina.
“Sandeep’s condition is so bad right now that he can’t move freely. For the first five days he couldn’t get out of bed. He will take time to recover,” said the Spaniard at the Indian team’s training camp in Pune.

The coach even speculated about the impact Sandeep’s absence will have on the team. “He is the best drag-flicker in the world. It is bad not to have a player like him in the team, but our team doesn’t depend on individual players. With or without Sandeep we will fight to win,” Brasa said.

Pressure of captaincy BRASA went on to explain that fitness wasn’t the only reason for Sandeep getting replaced by Rajpal. “The pressure of captaincy was affecting his performance.

It happens to many players. He wasn’t performing well as a captain. In Canada, I made Dhananjay Mahadik and Tushar Khandker captains, and under them Sandeep played brilliantly, but when I brought him back as captain, his performance wasn’t good,” Brasa said. The Champions Challenge is the first big test for Brasa and the Spaniard said the team were ready for the challenge. “I want them to fuse the Indian attacking style with the solid defence of European players. That is the key and we are working on it,” said Brasa.

“It’s an important event. We need to improve our position in world hockey as it is a ranking tournament. For that, we need to beat both Canada and Argentina. A ninth-place finish will help us get into Pool A for the World Cup,” he added.

Brasa also came down heavily on Hockey India for not providing required support to the team. “Some ten months ago I had asked for some facilities and equipment and we were promised those by the time we returned from Canada. It’s been almost three weeks since we returned,” he said.

Brasa also said that the Indian team were in great need of a psychologist. “I had zeroed in upon a sports psychologist working with Real Madrid team, named Eneko Larumbe. But his appointment has still not been cleared. It’s disgusting,” said Brasa.

The coach, however, said he was determined to improve the team. “We are fighters. It is the pride of wearing a blue jersey that matters the most,” the coach said. He also said that his main challenge had been to change the attitude of players. “Many players find it difficult to change their natural way of playing the game. Some don’t play with certain players they don’t like. I need to change that without changing their natural game,” Brasa said.