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Team selection: more questions than answers

S. Thyagarajan

— Photo: PTI

THINK TANK: The hockey ad-hoc national selection committee (from left): Aslam Sher Khan, Ashok Kumar, Zafar Iqbal, Dhanraj Pillay and Ajitpal Singh.

Chennai: Clueless and clearly captured in a web of confusion, the ad-hoc selection committee hatched a hotchpotch combination for the Azlan Shah hockey tournament. If that exercise drew a derisive reaction from K.P.S. Gill the observation cannot be faulted.

Handicapped as the selection committee members are without an insight, or data into the junior and senior talent available, they perforce had to perform a hurried job just fine-tuning what the committee it replaced had done.

In the effort to show “justice” the new committee has brought in Sandeep Singh, whose fitness remained a question mark, and consistently cited as reason for his omission by the coach, Joaquim Carvalho. His return after the Champions Challenge in Antwerp last year will be looked forward to. First of all, why such a talented striker as Sandeep Singh was kept out without a chance to develop into an outstanding flicker is yet to be convincingly explained.

Prone to criticism

But in focussing on Sandeep Singh, the committee was prepared to sacrifice an equally competent Raghunath. Diwakar’s claim to be part of the senior team needs to be debated further. By attempting to balance the juniors and seniors the ad hoc members have only opened themselves for further criticism if the team fails to perform at Ipoh, where India won a bronze last time.

With very little time is left before the first match against the tough New Zealanders on May 8, it is unclear how much of a combined practice will be possible before taking on a physically strong opposition.

The task of new coach, A.K. Bansal, who has done remarkably well in shaping the juniors, is unenviable. Caught between two heavyweights, Ric Charlesworth on the one side as advisor and Carvalho on the other as observer, with Ramesh Parameswaran as the assistant coach, how much freedom will he exercise can well be imagined. Too many cooks?

A critical look at the composition of the selection committee shows lack of application of the mind by the Indian Olympic Association. Three of the five belong to Indian Airlines, and Ajitpal Singh remains an eternal observer. That his aura lingers 33 years after India’s victory in the World Cup at Kuala Lumpur is amazing. If Indian hockey is in such a mess today Ajitpal’s contribution as part of the selection committee is no less insignificant.

Groping in the dark

Not surprisingly, the ad hoc committee is groping in the dark, showing neither the gumption to give the team to Charlesworth, acknowledged as the finest brain in contemporary hockey, nor take the authority to request Carvalho to step aside.

It is time to assign Charlesworth the role as chief coach. Already, he has wasted precious time. Charlesworth must be asked to select his supporting staff, and then proceed to chalk out the course of action with or without the selectors. An advisory role to him is an insult.

Meanwhile, the committee to govern the hockey affairs is yet to be put in place even after a week. The IOA said it would be formulated in the “next two days.” Too many questions pop up from the IOA’s decision to suspend the IHF. If the IHF is disbanded then what happens to Indian Hockey Confederation (IHC), which is the member of the FIH. Interestingly, Mr. Gill is IHC’s President. What then is the role of the women’s federation? Where do officials like Vidya Stokes and Amrit Bose fit in the present equation? The target in the whole exercise seems to be Mr. Gill after Jothikumaran’s exit as a result of the ‘sting’ operation.

‘Illegal order’

Defiant as ever Mr. Gill termed the suspension as “an illegal order and not obliged to obey.” When asked whether it will be contested, he retorted, “Why should we. It is for them to go to the court and implement it. Let me see.”

IOA’s hurried action against IHF under pressure from the Sports Ministry, FIH and, possibly from IOC, has forked up more questions than it seeks to solve and answer. The complexities are daunting indeed. At the moment IOA seems to have pleased none.

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