Where are the players who won the junior World Cup?

It was my junoon to play hockey and win a medal in the Olympics for India. I had promised my amma before 2000 Olympics in Sydney to bring a medal but destiny had other plans and my team missed the semifinal by a whisker. That hurt. But the pain pales in front of what happened today when we failed to even qualify for the Olympics for the first time.

Is this a nightmare?
Today, my phone didn’t stop ringing. Everyone who spoke to me wanted to know how come Indian hockey has fallen down to this level. It’s embarrassing to hear negative comments about the game, which I love so much and spent 16 years at the international level, and overall more.

I have no personal enmity with IHF president KPS Gill but when I spoke out against his policies, a lot of people used to dismiss it as my personal grouse. Today, because of Gill and his style of autocratic functioning, we have lost many generations of players.

He was an IPS officer and acted like one in hockey, which wasn’t good for the game. Gill appointed coaches and wanted them to report to him directly, the coaches were his stooges and didn’t bother to take the players into confidence. Whether it was Cedric DeSouza or Vasudev Baskaran, most of the coaches used to ignore the players’ feelings about the team component. Indian coaches have strong likes and dislikes, but unlike the system abroad, they get away by sacking players.

Many of the players who should have been playing in the qualifying tournament in Chile were overlooked. Several youngsters, starting from the batch which won the Junior World Cup in 2001 were systematically eased out by the IHF.

Players like Sandeep Singh, who, I feel is  one of the best penalty-corner specialist in the country, Len Aiyappa, another PC expert, midfielders Arjun Halappa, Viren Rasquinha and Vikram Pillay, forwards Gagan Ajit Singh and Deepak Thakur should have been part of our planning for 2008 but they are nowhere today.  Technically, we are not playing at the level we were playing even up to 2003.

 There seemed to be no understanding amongst the players in the match against Great Britain. We could have lost the match by seven goals instead of two goals as Britain missed at least five sitters. Winning the Asia Cup in 2007 is different from playing against European teams and Australia.

Till date, we lack a system of our own in Indian hockey. I have played in seven different national leagues but we are the only one without a uniform system. In Germany and Holland, they concentrate a lot on the grass root level and the same style is carried to their national top level.

But, we have different types of playing styles, and very few players are willing to follow the coach’s instructions. Our players might give 100 per cent on the field, but once he is away from the camp at his home, he doesn’t train at home or looks after his fitness properly.

The players have probably suffered the most under the IHF regime. What you give to the players, how you treat them, the facilities and the respect you give them, ultimately reflects in his performance.

Staying in mosquito-infested rooms in downtown hotels in Paharganj, Karol Bagh and sometimes shabby stadiums, certainly affects the morale of the players. You don’t expect them to walk taller on the field when they take on their counterparts from Australia, Holland Germany-who are well-looked after with scientific support and basic facilities. When I demanded match fees for hockey players. they accused me of being greedy.

But, how do you expect talented youngsters to take up hockey without ensuring a future for them.