Need to start afresh

Stickwork

Gurbux Singh

It is when everything is in ruins that you can start building anew. Indian hockey is luckier; it hasn’t really hit rock bottom, yet. We did do reasonably well in the World Cup and, what’s more, discovered love at home in the process. That is not two feathers in the hat though. Just something to build on; an eighth finish and a fan base.

To begin with a stern word, our performance itself in the 12-nation meet was pathetic, but there were others who fared worse and made us look better. Pakistan are four-time champions of the world. Yet look where they finished and what subsequently happened to their team.

India do not need such drastic measures as an entire squad resigning because, well, the finish was respectable when considered realistically. But we do have a lot of work at hand in terms of team composition.

Pakistan, very memorably issued call-ups to battle-scarred veterans for this world meet. India were better placed with a ready group that has been working together quite some time now. But how well-served is Indian hockey by this team. All evidence suggests that this lot is far from the cutting edge.

Germany, in that context, is one team we can learn from because, obviously, it’s age I am talking about. Since the last World Cup, the Germans have concentrated on a young bunch of amateurs/players and have modelled their game on the strengths of such a squad. Clearly, their method has paid great dividends.

So, Indian hockey needs to start from scratch. Youngsters are almost conspicuous by their absence in the Indian squad. What we need to do is get rid of the dead wood and then gather a group of talented youngsters from what is available to us and give them exposure at the highest level. Side by side, of course, developing skill and nurturing talent would have to go on.

This is not the end of the year — there is the Commonwealth Games in October to be followed by the Asian Games in China. But our primary focus should not be on these events. The vision should be to four years in the future. The objective should be to take really big strides.

I will give Jose Brasa the benefit of the doubt for India’s performance at this World Cup.

He had just joined and the going has not been easy with all the fuss about elections and players’ demands giving him very little time to talk about the game.