Times of India: Raghunath all praise for Hockey India and Oltmans

By Sudheendra Tripathi

MUMBAI: A massive change in approach by Hockey India (HI) has helped the national team perform better against tough opponents like Australia and Germany. HI, which was until recently headed by Narinder Batra (now president of the International Hockey Federation), has become thoroughly professional.

When SV Sunil was out of a job for close to a year, HI paid the India striker a salary. Good performances by players are rewarded handsomely. In short, the players, coaches and the support staff are all well taken care off unlike in the past.

“If the player knows he has a strong backing, obviously he goes that extra yard to perform better,” India defender and one of the most dangerous exponents of the drag-flick, VR Raghunath told TOI after his team India Oil got the better (4-2) of Central Railway in a Bombay Gold Cup match at the Mumbai Hockey Association on Friday.

“Earlier, we had to do most of the stuff ourselves. But that isn’t the case anymore. Everything is in place before we regroup for a camp or are going to play tournaments abroad. We can completely focus on training and our matches,” said Raghunath who had led India in Australia recently.

Speaking about the transformation, the 28-year-old said: “Since the time Roelant Oltmans has come in, the mindset has become very professional. He has divided the team into three groups and has appointed a team leader. The team leader will pass on the instructions to his team. The coach basically communicates with the team leaders and the team leader subsequently passes on the instructions to his team.

The introduction of team activity has also been very beneficial. The whole bunch travels together, trains together, eats together. This has allowed us to bond extremely well off the field.

When we are relaxed off the field, obviously our effort shows on the field.”

Although India has done well against formidable teams like Australia, Germany of late, Raghunath feels that a bit more consistency is required. “We are defeating big teams but we need to be a little more consistent. Fitness wise we are right up there. But if we start defeating the big teams in big tournaments it will be very good. We are currently No. 6 in the world. Our aim is to come in the top four.”