Pillay says someone like Harendra Singh, who guided the team to the Junior World Cup title last year, will be ideal for the role
The premature sacking of Roelant Oltmans as chief coach of the Indian senior men's hockey team has reignited the debate about the presence and need of foreign coaches in the Indian set-up.
With Hockey India (HI) showing the door to four foreigners in as many years, the game of musical chairs in the coaching staff is continuing to stall the progress of Indian hockey.
The legendary Dhanraj Pillay believes that this is the right time for HI to rope in an Indian coach with stability, consistency as well as long-term results in mind.
"If India want to win a medal at the 2020 or 2024 Olympics and achieve consistency, give the reigns to an Indian coach," Pillay said. "Let's concentrate only on Indian coaches now."
High performance director David John, who is the interim coach of the team, has made it clear that the new coach will not necessarily be a foreigner. The Australian, however, wants a full-time coach before the World Hockey League Finals in December, to give the new man in-charge at least a year to build the team for the 2018 FIH World Cup in India.
Pillay said someone like Harendra Singh, who guided the team to the Junior World Cup title last year, will be ideal for the role.
"Why not give a chance to Harendra Singh? He has given the results in the Junior World Cup," Pillay said. "Harendra has the same tactical acumen as any other top foreign coach. I think he is the best coach for India right now. Over the last 20 years, he has been involved in coaching across various teams."
The four-time Olympian said the sacking of Oltmans, with whom he worked in Hockey India League franchise Uttar Pradesh Wizards, was overdue.
"People have woken up now. In the last 3-4 years, the team just didn't show any consistency. There was a total lack of performance," Pillay said.
The former captain, who played at the top level for 15 years, felt the 63-year-old Dutchman was hiding behind the "process" excuse for too long.
"How long was the implementation process going to take? It has been one year since the 2016 Rio Olympics disappointment (where India finished eighth), and nothing has changed.
"He has been in India for almost five years now. How much more time did he want to deliver results?" Pillay said.
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