India loses to Malaysia-Brasa may get sacked soon

I write this blog with extreme difficulty. It's been a pathetic feeling since India lost to Malaysia.

Over the lunch on the semi-final day, a colleague asked me, "Will it be a tuft one for India?".
I replied, "India may sail through but it will not be so simple. Malaysia is an upcoming team. However, the final against Korea will surely be tuft nut to crack". I didn't know it the unimaginable is about to happen.

As I switched on the television, it showed the Korea v Pakistan was into Penalty Strokes. Few minutes later, Pakistan emerged victorious. I wondered, whenever there are 2 favorites for any final and one of them go out, it is usually followed by the second one, too. The match started in just a bit and I didn't spend too much time on thinking about it.

Indians were struggling right from the word 'go'. Malaysian strategy was simple. Strict defensive and only counter-attacks. They made it so difficult for Indians to penetrate the circle that it became a boring game. Mostly the ball just travelling all with over the field with very little gush of energy in the game.
India couldn't penetrate and Malaysia didn't attack on their own. Usual game - Defend, steal the ball, counter-attack and then come back again to defense - went on till Malaysia succeeded in their counter-attack to go up 1-0 in the 32nd minute. Yet again, there was no one to blame but Indian defense. Malaysians were too fast for them.

India pumped in quite a bit of energy after this. Danish Mujtaba got a PC for India. India grabbed this opportunity with both hands. They leveled the score 1-1, thanks to Sandeep Singh's accurate drag flick. Indian players must have had a hard time at the lemon break because the game till now was anything but convincing.

India took an early lead in the 2nd half as Tushar Khandkar scored in the 38th minute but Indian happiness didn't last for long as Malaysia got a PC in the 48th minute. This goal by Malaysia was class apart more for the fact that Malaysians had the confidence of taking an indirect PC. A quick back pass to the pusher and he just had to deflect it. Indian fans could only bite their nails seeing the impertinence of the Malaysians.

Indians had became very aggressive and when they got the next PC in the 54th minutes, Dhananjay Mahadik took the drag flick. His flick was easily stopped by the Malaysian Goalkeeper Subramanian but the ball remained there in front of him. Rajpal hounded on that opportunity and put India again into the lead. The scoreline read 3-2.

With 3 minutes to spare, Malaysia got a PC which they converted and this was the most paragraph of Indian demise story. Scores leveled 3-3, Indians tried as harder. They got an important Penalty Corner but Sandeep Singh was out because of injury. India threw away this chance, thanks to Dhananjay Mahadik, who failed to even make a proper contact to pump in some acceleration into that flick.

Full time and when the score line read 3-3, Malaysians had won half the battle. They thrived on their confidence and within 6minutes they sealed India's fate by scoring on a PC.
Indian performance was on the decline right from the word 'go'. With lesser mistakes against Pakistan, India had started showing signs of poor performers against Japan. Today was just another episode in the declining performance.

Malaysia made a very well deserving entry into the semi-finals of Guangzhou Asian Games 2010. Who knows what they are gonna do to Pakistan in the finals. As the Malaysian coach, Stephen van Huizen, said, "We started as underdogs and we still are underdogs in the finals."

India, now has to find their way to the London Olympics 2010 via some qualifiers in early 2012.
Another sad portion for India is that their loss comes at a time, when coach Jose Brasa's fate was loosely hanging on India's Asian Games performance. India out in the semi-finals is sure-shot disappointment for millions of Indian Hockey fans. The officials were anyway keen on not renewing Brasa's contract with Indian Hockey. No matter how much Indian Hockey has evolved, they have a reason, which they can easily justify, to execute their plans and start off with the saga of non-contract coaches, yet again.

The interesting portion is, as Indian Hockey has evolved, so has happened to Malaysia and Pakistan as well. Even though there is huge improvement in the way Indians have played in the recent tournaments under their Spanish coach, you have to count the fact that Pakistan has a Dutch coach and Malaysia has a American coach. It's all about technology, strategy and innovation.

If at all, India thinks of replacing their coach, it should be another foreign coach and not someone who is dear to the officials. I hope we take a conscious and a calculated decision.

Ind v Jap: Indians struggle against a defensive Japan

It was a very different day from yesterday at the last Pool B match between India v Japan.

India must be very relieved at the full time hooter because Japan was hell bent upon leveling the scores. Thankfully, the score line read 3-2 in India’s favor.

India played with a strategy of long passes. To those passes, either there were no takers, or there were takers who couldn’t trap it cleanly or the takers couldn’t match up to the pace of the hit.

Even when India had leveled Japan's 21st goal in the game minutes before half time, it remained a puzzle at the lemon break if at all India will be able to pull off this one or not. India did come back with some promise when they converted the PC in the 38th minute. The score line was further enhanced to 3-1 in the 62nd minute via a penalty corner conversion by Sandeep Singh. However, Japan was back with a bang as they scored a field goal in the next minute making the score board read 3-2. This remained the final score.

Today, Indians could walk off from the pitch with their heads high but there are many lessons to be learnt from today’s game. First and foremost being defense. Even though defense has shown a lot of improvement but in every game, the goals that India concedes are only because of some stupid lapse in man to man marking. Sardara Singh – extremely vigilant at other times - was just a step behind the Japanese player when he deflected an incoming hit from the right sideline. Chetri couldn't move an inch at this time.

Next goal by Japanese was when all players were fighting for the ball in the right side of the D and a loner Japanese, standing at the top of the D, got the ball and hit the ball above the heads of an Indian and Bharat Chetri.

Both times, it was Hiroki Sakamoto for Japan.

On the other hand, Japanese did a wonderful work with man to man marking and the details of the result are just a proof of it: 2 goals from PC and 1 Field Goal (PC by Sandeep Singh and FG by Rajpal). The Field Goal was sheer class of Shivendra Singh and if you leave aside that, Japan never gave India any space inside their circle.

Another area of concern for India is their lack of strategy.  India has changed many aspects in their basic style of play – no solo games, thinking while passing, no wild hits, no stupid clearances, quick movement on counter attacks – but today’s game needed more than that, i.e. an effective strategy to outplay the opponents. Japan played a defensive games relying quite a bit on counter attacks. Mind you, they were almost successful in that. They could rotate the ball well, retained the ball for long durations whenever they got it, gave shockers to Indians for their mistakes and were effective in controlling the pace of the game.

If India won today, it was primarily due to 2 reasons: discipline in opponent’s circle and a few brilliant saves by Chetri. They worked for their penalty corners, kept checking where their partners are and attempted to give accurate passes. Shivendra Singh’s precise pass - between the legs, with his back facing the post and 2 Japanese defenders almost over him - to Rajpal who scored the 1^st goal just exemplifies this. You can only compare his stick work only with that of Rehan Butt in yesterday’s game.

One of the highlight of the game was Sandeep Singh, not only because of his perfect, on-target, drag flicks but the way he has worked on his defensive skills. Taking the opponents head on, he thwarted quite a few attacks all by himself. Indian defense certainly looks much better whenever Sandeep and Sardara are on the turf together.

India’s worries almost remain the same: At times, Rajpal Singh fails to release the ball and thereby throws away some good chances. Even further it is Dhananjay Mahadik. Whether it is because of pressure or his poor tackling skills but a determined sprinter Mahadik somehow, fails to trap the ball. Even when he does, he leaves it loose. That gave Japanese numerous chances which they couldn’t capitalize on.

There are some happy take backs for India, too. There were times, when Indians held on to the ball for that fraction of a second and passed the ball; some times to the right with reverse stick, at times left and many other times, behind between their legs. That fraction second thought makes this trick possible. Moreover, Brasa’s hammer has gone really hard on players like Shivendra, Tushar, Sarvanjit, Rajpal who have finally blossomed and are at their ever best rallying around the field. If you see Rajpal sprinting along with an attacker from the opponent’s quarter to India’s quarter you are surely give away your heart to him. Similarly, Vikram Pillay’s ground coverage and Arjun Halappa’s intelligence is a visual treat and keeps making you ask for more.

It was a closely contested game and it could have gone any way.  All in all, not the greatest of matches played by India but there is much hope from them in the semis lined up with Malaysia.

Ind v Pak - Watch out, Indians are thinking now!

No packed stadium, no deafening noise, little crowd support, enormous pressure of past 2 high margin victories and even further, not at home turf - a very different environment for the Indian team as they played Pakistan today. Coach Jose Brasa had announced at the commencement of the tournament that for them the main matches are the ones against Pakistan followed by against Japan. No doubts, most of the Hockey fans were eagerly waiting for today’s game.

India got their deserved victory today. They beat a struggling Pakistan 3-2. Moreover, India beat Pakistan in almost all departments of the game.

Ticking the scoreboard early, India took 1-0 in the first minute itself; courtesy, Sandeep Singh's accurate flick. However, Pakistan was back in the game. The way Rehan Butt, with his back facing the cage, pushed the ball between his legs caught Bharat Chetri clueless that such a hit is also possible; no points to guess his push did find the goalpost board.

The 2^nd goal where Shivendra Singh – his efforts will not be reflected in the score line, unfortunately - rallied in the left flank beating numerous defenders shows that this player has an immense talent. Dharamvir Singh didn’t do injustice his team-mate’s brilliant stick work.

The highlight of the game was intense play focused in mid-field. Both India and Pakistan, under the respective coaches, have hogged on to the concept of ball possession. From 1 full back to the 2nd one to one flank followed by the reverse drill to another flank - both teams were mostly seen doing this. However, Indians have displayed tremendous commitment in adopting this style of play. At times, it was interesting to see Pakistan players charging Indian defenders to take possession of the ball - a tactics which usually Australians apply which needs extreme levels of fitness.

There is a huge improvement in Indian players' fitness. Barring a few who man the opponent’s half, whole team falling back at the time of an attack, short passes while clearing the ball show how India has learnt to play under intense pressure. There is no hurry to clear the ball by a hit in mid-field or the sidelines; Indians have started using their eyes and mind more often than ever.

Indians also made it very difficult for Pakistan to penetrate the circle. Statistics will have it, in spite of the good ball possession that Pakistan had in Indian half, it should be read as: Pakistan possessed the ball in Indian half (excluding the circle). The result was obvious: India conceded only 1 PC in the whole game.

Although the goals that India conceded were momentary lapses in defense, it also display of class and exuberance of Rehan Butt and Shakeel Abbasi. Be whatever the strategy of the team, these players' game is a vivid treat if they get the ball solo. They can perform dodges which no player in the World can do.

Indian defense were almost on their task today. Instances where they failed resulted in severe penalties, mostly. One sloppy trap from Mahadik gave Pakistan a real chance; not getting the stick down in time by Gurbaj paved the way for the ball to Butt to open the score for Pak; Instinctive tackle by Prabodh cost in a PC for Pakistan; lose ball from Sandeep gave Abbasi a chance which he didn’t miss.

Apart from those stray instances, Indian defense looks much more promising than the CWG games. Sardara Singh proved his class in playing as a full back. Sandeep Singh has shown marked improvement in the defense in this year.

Most importantly, Indian defense was consistent and saw it to the end.

Indians have started doing things which they never used, foremost being ‘thinking’! When Arjun Halappa clears the ball and starts moving down the sideline, he takes a couple of seconds but passes impeccably to a loner player around center line, who passes it to Khandker who coordinates a very dangerous looking attack.

Another instance of this 'thinking' is when Tushar enters Pak circle he holds on for a minute and gives the pass to Sarvanjit. Even though Sarvanjit was on high pressure point in the D, he took a while and then banged the ball on the foot of a Pak player, resulting in a very important PC for India.

There has been marked difference in Pakistan's game. Man-to-Man marking, more of team work, and ball possession are the areas where it's difficult to believe that it's the same Pakistan team. However, the lack of innovative ideas when usual attacks were blocked, poor changing of flanks and a counter-strategy to stop India from playing it’s game cost them the match.

One may argue that the margin of victory for India was very small and given the fact that Pakistan got a chance in the dying moments of the game, it was anyone's game. However, to contain Pakistan the way India did required guts and a game-plan. It was a planned effort rather just a chance. The fact that India earned a PC in 69th minute - their victory was sealed at that moment itself no matter what the result of PC - is indicative of a fact India was thoroughly in control.

All in all, the emotions were not running high, so the only other thing remained were legs and mind. They both earned India the victory they desperately wanted to cruise into the semis.

I feel scared to confess that Indian players have forced me raise my expectations from the upcoming games!

Thankfully, Chhetri has not been Negi-ised

15th Oct 2010: 

We have grown as a country, at least in our thinking.

Take the example of today's CWG 2010 Hockey final between Ind and Aus.

Before CWG 2010, 1982 Asiad was the last grand sporting event India has hosted.

In 1982, the finals of Men's Hockey, at the same venue - Major Dhyan Chand National Stadium - Pakistan thrashed India 7-1 in almost the same fashion as Australia did today, at least as per the score line.

I don't know, they say India choked under pressure. Then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi turning up to watch the match dented their mental balance. The forward line couldn't score. The defense gave the opposition too many chances. Hell fell loose on Indian Hockey that day. (That is another topic that recent victory of India over Pakistan 7-4 has been termed, by many, as a revenge after 28 years.)

When a team loses, you can't blame individual players for that. But, we being a country which likes to find villains in any debacle around us, found one on that day - Mir Ranjan Negi, the Indian Goalkeeper. The nation owes it to him for what it did to him then and thereafter.

Today, none other than Dr. Manmohan Singh and Sonia Gandhi were present in the stadium.

We got royally thrashed by 8-0. The agony was such that with 8s to spare, Australia utilized it and scored their last goal of the match beating the whole defense comprehensively. We couldn't penetrate their circle; if we did they cleared it comfortably. Often they came in our sacred circle and went back contended. Call it whatever, India failed in all departments.

India has shown a lot of character in this tournament. Beating Pakistan, and then England, India has shown that they are willingly taking a baby step forward in World Hockey.

Yes, within a matter of few days, the expectations went very high. Although, thinking rationally India hardly had a chance in today's finals - Baring a couple of upsets, Australia has beaten everyone in the 2 years with huge margins and has not lost any tournament either - but the fans of the home team wanted just a bit more than silver.

Had India just replicated their performance against England of the other day, it would have been a very different looking score today.

Anyhow, we just didn't lose, we lost without putting up a fight that any event Finals deserve.

So, it's almost the same finish as that of 1982 Asiad Hockey Finals? Then, why didn't we find one villain in Bharat Kumar Chetri today?

One may argue that those days the passion for Hockey was very high, hence the emotions ran very high, hence the desperation to crucify one individual.
To that I would say if it was a packed stadium that day, today it was an even more packed stadium - the capacity of the renovated stadium is much more. Today, a lot of people who wouldn't follow Hockey otherwise kept track of what was happening in today's match. Today is the last day of CWG 2010 and India is in close contest with England for the 2nd position in medal tally must have contributed to that interest surely.

So, one can't argue that Hockey was not being followed by as many people as those days. Passion was certainly running very high, today.

I tend to believe that one big leap India has taken in its 'thinking' has been after Delhi World Cup 2010. Everyone saw in front of their eyes where World Hockey has reached. Previously if people used to say, "They (players) don't play well, haar ke aate hain har jagah", they now say, "We are far behind in World Hockey."

Going by our expectations, which we attach to every sporting event in which India participates, I would say we got thoroughly thrashed in the World Cup (winning only 1 match, against Pakistan). However, very interestingly, following the World Cup, I didn't read in any newspapers for a long time that India fared poorly. Most of the voices almost emphasized: In the World Hockey exhibition, there is a long way to go for us.

So, say thanks to the World Cup for bringing change to our mindset or call it progressive thinking or you may say we have moved on from our past, but one thing remains for sure, Chetri not being crucified after today's game is a very healthy sign in Indian Hockey, both for its fraternity and it's fans.

We have started to accept that our team didn’t play well. We are certainly moving forward...

A very special moment to see India beat England

Post Ind-Aus match, Jose Brasa said that we are best team at the practice and worst team in matches - I kind of believed in what he said. But now, for sure, he will agree that his lads have delivered many lessons that he taught. However, if he says there is more to come, we are surely waiting for that treat.

Beating Pakistan 7-4 in a jam-packed, all-sold out stadium was special but by storming into the CWG Finals outplaying England, Indians have knocked at the doors of top-level World Hockey. No development teams, no injured players, no last minute drop outs, no suspensions, we don’t have any reason to downplay the victory of our team yesterday.

It’s almost impossible to beat a top-notch country like England. It was not fluke but a fiercely contested battle. Englishmen never gave it up until the last second of extra time and so didn’t India. Although, Bharat Chhetri’s save in the shootout was priceless but it’s heartening to see people talking more about Indian team’s rejuvenated performance.

From the traditional mindset of defense is the work of full-backs and half backs to the more recent principle of full team defending an opponent’s attack, India has made a big progress in modern Hockey. Sardara Singh, otherwise a playmaker in the mid-field in his entire Hockey career, in the defense line is an endorsement of the fact that contemporary Hockey is about challenging oneself. Mahadik’s improvement of his mistakes from the previous games is a commendable effort.

The Dutch can’t claim anymore that Indians play position based Hockey so it’s easy to mark them. Take this example of yesterday’s game: A Vikram Pillay diving from nowhere in the ‘D’ to deflect a long cross pass from Sandeep Singh almost from the half line.

Mid-fielders playing like crazy attackers, defenders coming down to the midfield and forwards reaching out to help their defense line, only exemplifies the concept of ‘Total Hockey’ recently embraced by Indians under their Spanish coach.

Certainly, gone are the days of wild hits into the circle with no takers.

After pushing the ball for PC, the way Sarvanjit Singh comes and stands to the left side of the post – he can’t be practically marked at this time – depicts that India is ‘thinking’. It wasn’t that England was short of ideas. During their PC variation – by which they scored the 2nd and 3rd goal - they caught an otherwise brilliant Chhetri, short of ideas, movement and reaction time.

Indian story doesn’t stop here: 4 on 4 marking in the Indian circle as the English attacker enters the top of the D only to find Prabodh Tirkey who did nothing but only implemented a point from basics of Hockey. Result: Dangerous looking attack confidently foiled followed by a counter attack.

It’s not only this, Indian athleticism has blossomed, the team movement in the midfield, flanks and the circle is so fast that it really put the otherwise very stable, very strong defense, resilient English team under pressure.

Long accurate passes, neat dodges, very little solo Hockey, least dribbling, changing flanks, you name a technique where Indians were criticized before and they look promising now.

Going down 1-3 and then recovering to give a gripping finish to the match is a reminder of the fact that it’s needs time and effort to reach such a stage. Not playing with heart but with strategy as well is something Indian team is putting across to it viewers and critics. It is these things that speak volumes of hard work by coaching staff headed by Brasa.

For the moment, Brasa, with his efforts, ideas and professionalism, has won the hearts of many fans who have overloaded him with their expectations.

Australia is reining World Champion and they almost look invincible. Pakistan stopped them 1-0 a few days back. If we can even match up our yesterday’s performance who knows what the final score board may read and I may get down to writing another intensely felt blog like this.

Whatever the results may be but CWG semi-finals between India v England will certainly make it to the Classics category and a Hockey fan like me will take pride to say, “Yes, I didn’t miss it.”

Not much gain for Indian Women in World Hockey rankings

A preliminary calculations, before the qualification matches start suggests the following:

13th ranked India may remain at 13th if they lose to South Africa for the 9-10th position match. If they beat SA, they climb only to the 12th spot. 12th ranked South Africa, however, doesn't get affected by this and are sure to become 11th ranked after this WC.
Currently 10th ranked USA, the only team amongst top 12 who didn't reach the WC, are sure to go down to 12th or 13th positions depending on India's performance.

8th ranked Spain and 9th ranked Japan, after their dismal performance in this WC will contest for 11-12 rank matches. If Spain wins this match, it will become 9th ranked otherwise it will be 10th ranked. For Japan, a win is a must to retain their 9th ranking or else they become 10th.

11th ranked Korea are all set to attain the 8th ranking irrespective of the result of their 5-6 ranked match against Australia. Similarly, 7th New Zealand will retain their 7th World ranking irrespective of the result of 7-8 position match against China.

5th ranked Aussies, are sure to slide to 6th position, courtsey 6th ranked England who will surely make to the 5th position. Depending on their performance, they can reach the 3rd position.

3rd ranked China, a big dissappointment in the WC, will slide to 4th or 5th position depending on England's final ranking in the WC.

1st ranked Netherlands can't go down below 2 in World Rankings. Similarly, 2nd ranked Argentina can't go below 3.
4th ranked Germany can hope to be anywhere between 2-4.
That essentially means, Netherlands or Argentina are the only teams that may emerge to be World ranked 1, after the Women's Hockey World Cup, Rosario, Argentina.

P.S.: Personally, I am a big fan of World rankings of FIH. The results of any tournaments are never drastically different from the then rankings of the participating nations.

Indian Hockey online petition

For all Hockey Lovers, here's an online petition for Indian Hockey:
Please help us in reaching out to Indian Hockey lovers and request their support on online petition:

http://www.petitiononline.com/sept2010/petition.html

Women's Hockey World Cup: India take on Netherlands today

The Women's Hockey World Cup 2010 has commenced in Rosario, Argentina.

India is placed in Pool A, alongside Netherlands(1st), Germany(4th), Australia(5th), NewZealand(7th),Japan(9th).

Indian women's team will take on 6 times World Champions, 2006 Madrid WC winners, Beijing Olympics Gold Medalist, Netherlands today.

Netherlands ranks 1st and India ranks 13th in FIH ratings.

India happens to be the lowest ranked team in their pool and also the World Cup, 2010.

In other Pool A matches today, Germany take on New Zealand and Australia take on Japan.

Pool B consists of Argentina(2nd), China(3rd), England(6th), Spain(8th), Korea(11th), and South Africa(12th).
In the opening day's matches, Argentina beat South Africa 5-2, England beat Spain 3-2 and Korea surprised China 2-1.

Final Result: 1st Women's Asian Champions Trophy Busan Korea

In the final, today, South Korea beat Japan 2-1 (HT: 1-0).

For the classification match for the 3rd-4th place, India beat China 2-1 (HT: 1-1). This was India's first victory in the 1st Women's Asian Champions Trophy from 27-31 July 2010 held in Busan, South Korea.

Final Rankings are as follows:

1) South Korea
2) Japan
3) India
4) China.


Last Updated: 1354 IST, 31st July, 2010.

1st Women's Asian Champions Trophy Busan South Korea

1st Asian Women's Champions Trophy is going on in Busan, South Korea from 27-31st July 2010.

China, Japan, India and Korea are the participating teams. Indian Women's Hockey team hasn't done very well in this tournament though.

Here are the results till now:
Day 1:
Japan beat India 3-2. (Saba Anjum and Surinder Kaur)
Korea beat China 1-0

Day 2:
China beat India 6-1 (Deepika Thakur)
Korea drew with Japan 2-2.

Day 3 (today):
Japan drew with China 2-2
Korea beat India 5-3 (HT 2-1). ( Saba Anjum (24", PC), Rani Ramphal (55", FG) and Subadhra Pradhan ( 67", PC) )

India stands last (4th) in the pool with China 3rd, Japan 2nd and Korea 1st.

Tomorrow, 31st July, 2010, the finals will be between Korea and Japan.
Most likely, there is a classifaction match between India and China for the 3rd-4th place, although I am not sure about this.


Last updated: 30th July, 2010, 1441 IST

Indian Hockey - Finally, will it be Gill again?

There is a starking similarity between Indira Gandhi and KPS Gill.
1) Both were ruthless and shrewd administrators.
2) When kept out of power for a few years, they realized how unpopular they were; till then they believed they were the most popular leaders.
3) Both went out to apologize for their deeds; Gill is doing it in a very stylish manner, though. Indira Gandhi did it publicly for her acts.
4) Both, eventually, realized how they can't exist without the public support.
5) Last but not the least, this country never had any better option than them, in their respective fields and times.

So, here we are: KPS Gill says that he is keen to clean up the Governing Body mess. I wonder, if saying this will be a crime: No one in the recent past, has talked about cleaning up the adminstrative mess. So, if KPS Gill has talked about sorting out the matter by 'talks', no matter how many brownie points he gains, he certainly sounds much better compared to Stokes, Batra and Kalmadi.

Running Hockey administration like State Goverment's Police Department, Gill had lost his popularity soon after he assumed power in 1994. The sacking of 6 star playing and the coach from the Asiad 1998 Gold medal winning team made him a villian throughout the country.
Thereafter, the likes of K Jyothikumaran and their cronies, under continous patronage from Gill, compounded with complete mastery of the political system, they ruled Indian Hockey Federation (IHF) and made it a corrupt, opportunistic and sad system; a system which never addressed the basic problems of Hockey and which finally gave up the idea of holding Nationals as well.

Although it came up with the brilliant idea of Premier Hockey League (PHL) but it gave a hard time to their partner, ESPN. How one can murder their own brainchild can be asked by IHF and how one can adapt other's idea and build a fortune around it, can be asked by BCCI.

Gill locked horns with FIH as well and gave a extremely tuft time to Brenda Els Vriesman too - That was where it finally signed on their death certificate. Vriesman went on to say publicly that Gill needs to do much more for the betterment of Hockey. FIH went on to appoint Ric Charlesworth for India's Hockey development. A sting operation exposing the corruption of IHF was only a reason for people like Kalmadi to wipe off Gill and company for the time being.

Already unpopular, Gill-headed-IHF was disbanded and was left in oblivion.

Thereafter, mockery times came in for Hockey adminstration. Although some immediate problems concerning the Indian team - more exposure tours, good coach, hosting World Cup - were addressed by adhoc adminstration (read it, Hockey India) but it ruled like a monarchy. Only to realize immediately, that monarchy was abolished in this country long time back.

Now that a few court orders have regarding IHF dissaffiliation as illegal and has given them the boost which IHF was looking for all these years, Gill and co. are thinking aloud.

Few days back, star Olympian and much respected Ashok Kumar had said: "Gill has changed."

A few days later, Gill said, he will not contest the elections.

That Gill is talking of reconciliation talk with Hockey India (HI) and wants to sort out the matter for the benefit of Hockey, along with court order favouring him, makes me wonder, with my usual apprehensions which a common man has about politicians, if Gill faction is all set to make a come back to the Hockey adminstration.

What stand FIH takes, is yet to be seen but as of now.

I feel Gill did win a point amongst Vidya Stokes, Narinder Batra and Suresh Kalmadi. However, not many will wonder that his age is too close to that of Ms. Stokes.

Gill surely ruled like Burmese Military junta and Kalmadi like monarchy. So, if this re-incarnated Gill sounds like a mellowed down Indira Gandhi of late 80's, who knows his group may just come back with a thumping majority as Indira Gandhi did in 1980 General Elections!

P.S.: I have not included Pargat Singh in my discussion because I am not aware of his support amongst the 'voters'.

Indian Women's Hockey sex scandal - comedy

Disclaimer: This blog of mine, is more about irony of our society and circumstances. It doesn't wish to take a call on whether or not M K Kaushik is guilty or not.

Allegations and counter allegations gallore.

1) Few days back, Hockey India received photographs of Indian Women's Hockey team videographer in compromising position with some unknown ladies during China Japan tour. (back in Mar-Apr '10)

2) Current national level player Ranjita Devi claims that she has been sexually harrassed by the Women's team coach M K Kaushik.

I am not concerned about point no.1. It is surely nothing more than gossip matter. What one does in their rooms, on tour, should be dictacted by 'code of conduct' for players and officials. Whether Hockey has one or not, I am not sure.

Coming to 2nd point: First things first. Sexual harrassment charges are serious. Whether the person who makes those allegations, is genuine or not, whether they are a star player or not, whether they are capable enough to compete in current Hockey or not, inspite of all these questions, it is a serious allegation. One can't take it lightly. A independent probe is a must.

Although I am not a great fan of KPS Gill and his adminstration times, and if I ignore the past details of his own character, I agree to his point: What are the qualifications of the people who have been formed in the committee who will investigate these details?

I will say it's true. Do they know what law books says? How one should conduct a prosecution and defense case? There is a complete legal system in place for this.

In this context, Zafar Iqbal, a former Olympian, who is a part of this committee, says, "The player's allegations are weak."
Yeah, right!

The point is not whether M K Kaushik is involved in sexual harrassment or not. One may never find out that, if you honestly ask me. It will finally reside on what one individual prefers to believe. Grab these facts:

1) There is no official investigation going on by competent authorities. Hockey India (HI) will collate the version of both sides will be submitted to Sports Authority of India, who will decide what needs to be done, because they are the employers to Kaushik and the videographer.

2) 31 players who have signed the letter by Ranjita say, "We haven't faced it but we are supporting Ranjita."
Ranjita, in her letter, claims that she and many others were sexually harrassed.

3) I have heard and read 4 different points on 4 different channels from Helen Mary. One place she tells about how Kaushik was found sleeping on the same berth in a train. Another place she says he is a wonderful coach but a characterless guy. Third place she says she herself was sexually harrassed by Kaushik. Fourth place she says that she was removed from captaincy because Kaushik and some lady manager got to know that Mary has seen them together having fun. It also tells that senior players don't like Kaushik and they wanted to get rid of him. Fifth newspaper tells how the lady manager was perpeptually drunk and was with Kaushik all the time.
Believe me, her interview is in so many bits and pieces in various newspapers and if you read all of them, you wouldn't know what to gather from it finally. The more I read, the more I am confused.
4) Theories are around that the timing of the event is a surprise because of Hockey India elections days away.
5) Although, it is usually, 'innocent until proven guilty' by law but the general public tends to believe, 'guilty until proven innocent'.

With so much reporting, so much conflicting opinions, allegations and no concrete investigation in the offing, a common fan like me can never figure out what to conclude from the whole event.

Now, Kaushik's contract with SAI to work for Indian Women's team was only till Nov. '10, i.e. till Guangzhou, China Asiads. He has resigned from the Indian Women's Hockey Coach position. It reminds me of a movie dialogue where the alleged guy tells his perpitrator, "You will not be able to prove anything." To which the perpetrator responds, "But you will suffer till the time this issue is alive and kicking."

So, he will be away for the time being and thereafter, any way, he will be out.

Whether you believe that there is no flame without fire, one thing is for sure: Kaushik's image is tarnished amongst common people.
Till 2 days back, not many (of the general public) knew, that Kaushik was the coach of Women's team since 1991 (barring a few breaks in between) and Indian Women's Hockey reached it's highs under his coaching. One 2 day coverage, and now almost everyone knows Kaushik.

I would say, it's a ticket to (de)fame for Kaushik.

All said and done, Hockey doesn't have many fans amongst general public; the ones who are, are mostly the only ones in their friend circles. I am one of those loners in my friend circle and I find it extremely embarrassing, when I am asked with a smiling face, 'yeh kya ho raha hai tumhaare Hockey mein?"

I just keep quiet, feeling low, humiliated..... and sad not for the event, but how it is handled by all of us...

Indian Hockey Drama continues, this time it's Joaquim Carvalho

Carvalho has accused HI that they are stopping Dilip Tirkey and Ashish Ballal from performing the role of Selectors in IHF.
I think, HI should say "Yes, Carvalho is right", because Carvalho thinks he is right.

Reports tell that Dilip Tirkey has got his appointment news from media. However, Mr. Joaquim Carvalho has accused Hockey India, of stopping Tirkey from performing the role of selector. Whether he got the offer -don't bother about accepting it- shouldn't be worried about.

The key here is: Believe what Carvalho says.

I am only concerned with Hockey; not Hockey India or IHF or for that matter, who is legitimate.

The sad portion of the whole event is, Carvalho's accusations have hit the headlines.

Here are few better things, a 'Hockey Lover' will love to talk about:

1) Indian Men Hockey team is playing Belgium currently.
2) India's Women Hockey team is all set to play in Busan in the inaugural version of Asian Women's Champions Trophy.
3) Murugappa Cup has started in Chennai, although many stars are not present.
4) IHF is holding 'Nationals' in Bhopal.

I wonder, barring a select few, who cares about Carvalho's political thoughts and accusations. I have a faint feeling, if you ask Carvalho on the sidelines, he too may agree with me.
 
For people who love Hockey, it doesn't matter who holds the tournament, they are always interested in 'on the turf war'. However, for few others lovers, 'war for the turf' is more important.

Domestic Indian Hockey: CM Cup in Bangalore - Semi Finals

Disclaimer: Last match, that I watched in the stadium was in World Cup 2010, New Delhi. That day, of the 3 matches that I watched, one was Spain v Australia. This match made me realize, where World Hockey has reached (and where Indian Hockey is). If I tend to compare (and over compare) a domestic tournament with World Hockey matches, I request the readers to pardon me.

Initially, not very keen but I finally did decide to watch the Chief Minister’s Cup at the KSHA Stadium, Bangalore. It was a day when 2 Semi Finals were supposed to be played.


As I landed up there, I could see the difference in the stadium. It was all beautifully decorated. Huge hoardings, giant screens, many banners, litter free stadium, new looking goalposts and nets, neat score board, new substitution number boards. The newly laid turf made the stadium look admirable.

Behind one goal, there was a huge stage set up, with orchestra instruments, for live performances. Each side of the turf, there was a giant screen placed for the viewers to watch the LIVE proceedings. As I walked around, I kept clicking pictures. As I came around the South end goalpost, I was held back by something interesting – a microphone, strategically placed next to the goalpost, possibly to track the board bangs or to hear what the players talk during the play. I took all my time to take the pic of the microphone.

Massive speakers were put around the stadium. It played peppy numbers, at times from Bollywood, other times from Sandalwood. There were moments when it was difficult to hear anything else but the music.

Doordarshan, which is covering the event LIVE, had cameras put up all around the stadium. Near the entrance itself, there was a camera, on a very long arm, which hovered and reached out to cover all the area.

One wonders so many efforts were put in to lay out a beautiful stadium but nothing at all was done outside the stadium, in the city. The media coverage has also been poor, to say the least. Apart from photographers by organizers, I was the only one who was clicking pictures.

As the players started coming in to the stadium, the excitement started building. The first game was between IOCL v BPCL. The IOCL players have it in their gait that they are champions. They warmed up for good 15m and did all drills. Prabhjot Singh, Jaswinder, Sardara Singh- he didn’t play though, Devesh Chauhan, Vikram Kanth, Inderjeet Chaddha, were the ones whom I could recognize. BPCL on the other hand, leave aside a few, didn’t bother much about warm ups. This sight, in itself, told a lot about what’s gonna happen in the game.

The crowd increased by the minute and as the match went under way just before 1800 hrs; the West side of the stadium – the roofed stand – was filling up briskly. Goals galore, minutes into the game and in the first half, it was a treat to watch the match. A score of 3-2 with IOCL leading promised an exciting 2nd half. However, unfortunately, 2nd half presented a lackluster and a disappointing show. BPCL players looked tired and were walking on the turf often. They could defend well and didn’t bother the score keepers at all. It was quite an ordinary show. The match ended 3-2.

One sad thing is that no one pays attention on certain basic etiquettes at the domestic levels. Any decision you don’t like, you surround the umpire and jeopardize the game for a few minutes – that is in our reflexes now. Another interesting event was when a contemporary national team player was shown the Green Card. He possibly forgot that he has to walk out at this stage. The umpire has to tell him what a Green Card means and show him where the benches were.

As the match got over, Air India team was stretching on the side fence to play their game against Army Red. Air India, usually, a star studded team lacked the star players today – possibly because many players would have been in the National Camp. But Dhanray Pillay, Sameer Dad, Vikram Pillay, Sandeep Micheal, Adrian D’Souza were the ones I thought would be worth watching.

Army Red, a local team who got its own turf recently, has always been a promising team on the domestic circuit. Although, it’s not star packed as IOCL or Air India, but they are a power to reckon with.

To make the stadium look lively in this break, numerous fire crackers were burst all this while that made the sky look beautiful. Few visitors watching the proceedings, from outside the stadium at the boundary wall, were a heartening sight.

As the teams were introduced to the Karnataka Sports Minister, Goolihatti Shekhar, the public announcers talked about the teams. When they took pride in telling the audience that Army Red is a local team and Ignace Tirkey makes the city proud, the humbled smile of Tirkey’s face was one to watch out for.

The match went underway and was a thorough downer. Players from both sides lacked fitness and didn’t bother to cover the turf, many a times. Although goals were scored but there wasn’t much class in the match. I was supposed to leave at the half time. But, I was told that 2nd half was a thriller in which Army Red took the match into the Tie Breaker and then beat Air India.

As I walked off, the West stand was nearly 90% full and the Eastern stands were occupied by the Army men in their dresses. I wondered if a tournament at the time when FIFA Football is on, will attract any people to the stadium – I was proved wrong at least on this day, the only day I went to the tournament. Although this was a satisfying sight, I walked off from the stadium disappointed because I felt domestic Hockey in India lacks quality. One whack into the goal post followed by a deflection is still the most preferred way to score - You don’t see that in international Hockey, high quality matches, anymore. Man to man marking, fitness, full usage of the pitch, non-solo approach are the premises we still don't believe in.

The variation of 3 attackers versus 3 (2+goalkeeper) defenders – the idea developed by Ric Charlesworth for short corners – relaxed my mind a bit that we have, indeed, adapted something from International Hockey arena.

It was also lovely to see a lot of people related to Karnataka Hockey come together on the same platform. Those I could recognize were AB Subbaiah, Ashish Ballal, MP Ganesh, RK Shetty, Charles C, BP Govinda,Jagbir Singh.

Last but not the least, it was a sheer pleasure watching a match with Jude Felix Hockey Academy members and got to meet Manoj Mahala, a Hockey buff, whom I got to know through facebook.

Here is the link to the photographs, I clicked: http://picasaweb.google.com/amitabh.bachchan.bigb/CMCupKSHACupBangalore

Azlan Shah Cup 2010 - My analysis

After seeing Hockey World Cup 2010 and the level International Hockey has attained, it feels a little boring to know there is a tournament - Sultan Azlan Shah Cup going on in Ipoh, Malaysia - where teams like Australia, Korea, Pakistan and India haven't fielded their full bench strength.


But life has to go on and World Cup got over more than 2 months back.

Some people may say that Azlan Shah Cup has more or less been a B-grade tournament where the best teams of the World - if at all they show up - field their development teams.

If India would have lost, critics would have claimed, 'Oh! It's just another nail in the coffin.' Had they won by beating Korea, it would have been, "Come on, this is expected. What’s so great about it?"

Well, I am neither a critic nor a person who has a huge baggage of expectations from the team.

For me, if it’s a decently contested game, where India earns a victory or looses by putting up a valiant effort is a moment of celebration and treat.

All said and done, due to heavy rains, the final couldn't be conducted and the Azlan Shah Cup 2010 was shared between India and Korea.

I am very positive that millions of fans of Indian Hockey wouldn't have been happy with this. We all wanted to the cup totally to ourselves and not shared with the Koreans! :)

Apart from the good show put up by the Indian team in this tournament - leave aside Development team topic for a moment - there are couple of points I wish to remark are:

1) Malaysia is a country which has Equatorial climate; one where there is a 4 'o clock rain every day. Shouldn't Azlan Shah Cup organizers apprehended this situation before and must have marked another day to complete the finals?

2) I read, from http://stick2hockey.com LIVE Commentary section, that Indian team management lodged an official complaint with the tournament director that since they ranked first in the pool, they should have been given the cup. Unfortunately, I find this short-sightedness of Indian management. I am sad to remark that this sounds very opportunistic on our part and also we must have thought about much before the tournament started rather when Rain Gods are greeting and giving mass hugs at the stadium.

Coming back to the performance of the Indian team, one has to praise the winning streak of India. First a draw with China, followed by victories over Pakistan, Korea and Australia was good news for all the fans. Losing to Malaysia was certainly not gonna well with a lot of people. India experimented quite a bit in that match – the coaches had planned this - and Malaysia beat Malaysia convincingly 5-2.

With Korea, Australia and Malaysia tied at the top, it finally came to the last match, where if India’s lose or draw would have been the biggest disappointment. Finally, India beat Egypt to claim the 1st spot in the pool thereby setting up a final with Korea. So, all in all, it has been a decent performance for the Indian team.


Few other points:

1) It has been reported that Jose Brasa was told by the Indian Government (read SAI officials) not to be present at the compulsory Press meet after every match that India plays. A professional person, he adhered to what was told by his bosses. So, one never got to know, what Brasa was thinking all through the tournament. Looks like Hockey India's media phobia is gonna be a chronic one.

2) None of the matches being broadcasted LIVE was another disappointment on this tour of India.

All said and done, I am happy to hear that India holds the Azlan Shah Cup 2010 (shared with Korea) but I also believe there is a need of tours to the 1st 5 countries of the World. It's jubilation time and every victory has its own importance so let's relax for a while and enjoy!

Indian Hockey-India ranks 9th now

As per FIH website update on 15th March, Indian fans can breathe easy, at least for a while. India have come up from being 12th ranked to 9th ranked.

India jump up the rankings, thanks to 8th ranking in the World Cup 2010.

As expected the World Cup champions, Australia, for the first time in last 5 years, have toppled Germany from their rank 1 spot marking their dominance in World Hockey,official.
This is only the 2nd time since 2003 Australia has been able to gain that spot. The other time being only in 2005.

As per the last updated rankings, on 14th Dec, Australia, 1993 points, was closely following Germany, at 2088 points. Earning 1000 points from WC 2010, Australia now have 2605 points (along with other various calculations).

Netherlands and Spain who have dominated the 3rd and 4th position from 2004, exchanged their spots. From 2008 onwards, Spain maintained the 3rd spot. However, this time due to poor fare (5th) at the recently concluded World Cup, they have swapped positions with Netherlands, which has becomes the 3rd ranked now.

Korea and England have held on their 5th and 6th positions respectively.

Pakistan and New Zealand, like Spain and Netherlands, have swapped their rankings. Pakistan has slipped down to 8th where as New Zealand must be a content lot faring 7th in World rankings.
Although, New Zealand finished 9th in the World Cup but Pakistan finishing 12th has helped their cause.
Moreover, since Champions Trophy contributes to the ranking and none of the below ranked teams will contest with the Black Sticks there, they are sure to improve their rankings in Monchengladbach where the Champions Trophy will be held, later this year in August.

India and Argentina - both missed the Beijing Olympics - have pushed aside Belgium and China - both missed 2010 World Cup - off from the 9th and 10th spots to mark their recovery in the International arena, possibly.

Canada retain their 11th ranking and South Africa have improved marginally to be ranked 11th after pulling off few good surprises at the World Cups where they fared a remarkable 10th.

So, for Indian fans the only hope now to fare better in the FIH World Rankings, is Guangzhou Asian Games, late this year, which will contribute to these rankings. Every tournament before that, will be a feeler only.

On the different note, have a look at the World Cup rankings and the current FIH rankings:

Ind v Eng LIVE in stadium-what an experience!!

What a day it was. From the past few months it has been a long wait for me. If not desperately, I was eagerly waiting for the Hero Honda Hockey World Cup 2010 to commence. As it approached near I wondered, should I go to Delhi or not? When a close friend alerted me, “This happened in 1982. You never know when it’s gonna come next.” Then finally it was decided; clubbed with a family visit will be an evening at the Dhyan Chand National Stadium in Delhi – to watch the 3 matches of the day, last being Ind v Eng.


Few days before the event, a lot of negative news kept pouring in continuously. I wondered what the future of this game in this country is. Fight for power, captaincy controversy, media block out, no publicity by the officials, former players struggling with very basic things. You name it and it has it. But somewhere deep in my heart, I knew 2 things: If the team plays well, these things will come down. I have faith in Brasa.

When Ind beat Pak in the opener, it was the best kick start any Hockey fan could have asked for. It was not just a victory; the positive thinkers remarked it as a changed Indian Hockey team – less of solo runs, man to man marking in the defense, rolling substitutes, midfield and attack line being more cohesive. There was hope.

The match those followed were against Australia and Spain. India lost both matches 5-2. Those were difficult evenings; I felt I couldn’t share my feelings with anyone. I have not even a single friend who follows Hockey like the way I do. A lot of Hockey fraternity people, who I know closely, are not the ones I would have shared these feelings; primarily because I am a commoner and not a Hockey professional.

With India out of the Semi Final chase, as Brasa had cautioned 2 months back, I landed at the above mentioned stadium. For me, the first time, I was witnessing an international match. A beautifully laid out stadium, it felt magical at the first look. I relished my decision.

First match was Aus v Spain: a class of its own. Continuous (shoulder to shoulder) marking of all the forward line players, no needless dribble, no dodge and beating, just move the ball, if not right then left, keep the opponents on the move and ‘desperate’ to get the ball. Of the limited knowledge I have, it was Hockey at its best. At one time, someone told me there are a lot of things that happen on turf. On TV you get to see the play around the ball. I got to know what he meant. I just wondered when our country will play a game like this. Although Aus won 2-0 but Spain made them run for their win.

Second match was SA v Pak, Pak being the clear favourites. An elderly gentleman around remarked, “Previous match was Class A match, this one is Class B and the next one will be a mixed class match.” The crowd precisely knew what to expect from teams like Pak and India. The marked difference in quality of the first and this match was evident – Pak players, as expected, don’t look up where there mates are, they believe in skills and solo runs. It works but less often than it used to.

An expert around me had seen SA’s game in the tournament and had bet with someone that SA will win against Pak. Pak’s game reminds me very much of how India plays. At one time, I shouted, “Abbasi, ball paas kar de.” Someone was witty enough to respond, “arey bhaiyya, tell him something that is possible.” That summed up the knowledge of the crowd.

The impossible was about to come true. SA took over the game 4-1 and Pak saved their face in the last 2 minutes, to finish it 4-3.

Now comes the match, we have been waiting for: ind v Eng. The game started and Indians were quite disciplined in first half. Good man to man marking, very little of solo runs, awesome coverage of the midfield but there were moments where the crowd was shouting, ‘Change the flank’, but Indians play on instincts; and that says go where there (read it, more opponents) is chance of becoming a hero.

There are 2 important things which we lack and will come with time: perseverance and ability to take off pressure. One instance of sloppy defence and England whacked one in. The defence is so loaded with attacks with little support from the forward line that they burn out after a while and are prone to make mistakes. (read it, concede goals). Although Indians were marking all 3/4 forward line players when ball was with England, India were being treated at par.However, there was something wrong. When the ball was with India in the mid-field, 3 forward line players were always in the D, very neatly marked. A guy shouted, ‘arey, come outside and get the ball instead of just waiting in the D.” – something I felt, that a common man can see, Brasa must have seen that as well.

In the 2nd half, as England went up by 3-0 the crowd was desperate, “arey 1 tou maar dou. Thousands are here to support you.”

The thing that made me sad was, although a lot of players have brought in a lot of discipline to the team, players from up north still don’t release the ball after a single touch (they take 4 to 5 touches and give time to opponents to recover), sometimes they don’t know how to trap the ball and they don’t care about the most basic thing: Look up when you move forward.

But as the day closed with India posing a very decent challenge to the Englishmen by losing 2-3, I realized how difficult it would be for Brasa. It not about Hockey, it’s about the mindset and instinct, i.e. to play as a team than as an individual. Few days back, Taeke Taekema said, “I have no personal goals for this WC. Had there been personal goal s I would have played Tennis, not Hockey.” Simple, isn’t it?

As I left the stadium, I was content person; to get to watch 3 matches of WC being with people who know Hockey well, being with who just came to watch without much knowledge, being with people who offer unconditional support to their team, people who cheer even in the dying moments; something which the Indians players also acknowledge by doing a round after the match. The playing of national anthem with 17k people standing and singing in unison is something that I have never done in my life. It’s was surely an emotional moment that made my throat heavy.

A Hockey professional next to me said, “You know how England is playing and how much India can pull but somewhere deep in your heart you wish, what If India pulls out a win.” His voice sunk and so did mine. I am fairly sure that every Indian supporter, who landed up at Dhyan Chand Hockey Stadium on 6th Mar ’10, must have felt the same.

Who is bringing disrepute to Indian Hockey?

Excerpts from the newspapers these days pertaining to Indian Hockey and Hero Honda World Cup 2010:


I was not let in the stadium.
I did not get some tickets that I wanted. (Whole world can get it online, though)
I fear that this World Cup will be worst one in this history.
I want everything to go fine but certain Government officials are taking time to materialize trivial things.

Does any of these happenings justify that you hit the news headlines the next day?

My question to the same people who blame others for the wrong doing is: How are you helping the very cause for which you are claim you feel bad about?

The problem with blame game is: The outside public totally shuts off from the whole arena itself. I, as a Hockey fan, don't care that in today's goof up who was right and who was wrong.
I just say, "Oh, just forget it!"
Few laugh at them as well.
Only Hockey fraternity reads these comments and fans just wonder when, at all, this will come to and end.
But our (so called) stalwarts fail to understand this.

Will the person who was denied entry to the stadium or the one didn't get tickets or the one who says that many are bringing disrepute to the game will stand up and say that they will not do this to others?
The very basic analysis of the situation tells me, they will!

I don't care who runs Hockey in this country yesterday or today or who stands a better chance to run it tomorrow but I am sure of one thing:
The people who claim that they are being ignored at various junctures are the ones who will do the same to others some day. These are people who are actually bringing disrepute to the very game that gave them an exquisite life.

Once I was told by a taxi driver, "We should not cheat tourists. It's because of their visit to this small place that we earn our living."
It's because of the game Hockey, former players are what they are today.

He who fights with monsters might take care lest he thereby become a monster.

Golden Chance to become Indian Hockey hero!

Indian Hockey faces a captaincy issue now.
Coach Jose Brasa says that he has nominated Prabhjot Singh for captaincy.
Hockey India officials claim that coach doesn't have a say in this matter and the captain, according to them, is Rajpal Singh.

Now, if you ask me, here are questions that shouldn't be thought about.

1) Is Brasa eligible to nominate the captain or not?

2) Has Hockey India taken a good decision or a decision with vested interests?

The people in debate are Rajpal Singh and Prabhjot Singh.
They are amongst the senior most players of the team. How they act at this time is what will be crucial in the coming days of the World Cup.

This time it's not the fight with the outside corrupt and incompetent officials. The country supported the previous fight because it was for a genuine cause and it was the betterment of the game.

This fight although, superfically, looks as if it's a fight between HI officials and Jose Brasa. But if 2 individuals take the baton in their hands and decide that they themselves can sort out the matter along with their team-mates, then it's only between 2 individuals - individuals who are amongst the best Hockey players in the country, right now.

The team will not do well without either of them. So, can't we have something like this - Either Rajpal or Prabhjot back out in the favour of other? Just for the sake of the team?

For it doesn't matter who will have the last word. It does matter what rank did the team have in the World Cup.
For it doesn't matter whether Brasa or Batra will win. It does matter that neither Prabhjot nor Rajpal should loose the spirit with which they enter the field everytime.

The one who backs-out does loose the captaincy but he surely will set an example for the generations to come - an example where the team spirit is more important than just a ceremonial post.

And that is where lies the golden chance to become Indian Hockey hero - a hero, with ultimate sportsmanship, who decided to hand over the leadership of the team to fellow team mate, at the World Cup, only and only for the sake of betterment of his team!

Hockey India officials goof up now

You keep threatening extreme things to the other party, don't negotiate at all and nothing gets resolved.

Once the Indian Hockey Players sat on strike, it was a blunder from the players not to negotiate properly when they were in Delhi. They gave a statement that all is settled and made a U-turn within 24 hours of their decision.
However, the further complexity has been added by the Hockey India officials by threatening the players to be asked to leave and field another team in the Hero Honda World Cup 2010 scheduled to start on 28th Feb '09.

Hockey India Officials have made the same mistake which the players did: going extremes. This is not 1998 when Indian Hockey Federation dropped 6 players immediately after 1998 Asiad Gold Medal victory and still the Federation had it's way.

The media rules now. Whether they are right or not, but media rules. The internal dispute which could have been based on negotiation and continuous 2-way talk has become a contentious issue.
The officials could have dealt with the players much better.
They could have settled the immediate problem of ending the strike first. The players can still practise and talks can go on with Hockey India officials in Pune.

Although players' demands are genuine, Hockey India's stand also doesn't seem to be wrong. They say that the officially elected body will committ the salaries and can give only give limited money to the players.
However, it looks like there lacks a will from HI to solve the issue amicably.

It seems the officials are desperate and haven't even made one decent prolonged attempt to straighten out things with the players. Their mantra has been: Take whatever we give you or leave the arena.

It doesn't work out that way. The news has made to the front page of the leading dailies. Everyone has come in support of players. The players have got an excellent platform to venom their grievences in front of the whole nation. With so much money being promised by so many people from the country and the World, it seems like it's easy to get money from people but the officials.

HI officials are giving the same trash that offficials used to give decades back, "Play for the nation and forget money."
Unfortunately, it's doesn't work in 2010. Nearly the whole nation empathizes with the players when it comes to incompetent adminstration which has vested interests.

By such an extreme stand HI has ensured that they will lick where they spit.

I just wish that the camp starts soon because Brasa and his coaching team are waiting on the turf for the players to put up a good show in the World Cup.
Each day lost is costly to this nation, to the players and to the fans of Indian Hockey....

Indian Hockey Players stop play and sit on a strike...

Indian Hockey Players have gone on a strike.

Here are the various thoughts going around:

• Why did they take so long to escalate the issue? 
• Is there anyone in particular who is instigating this strike? 
• Wasn't it poorly orchestrated by the players? 
• Although, Brasa feels for the cause but has distanced himself from all this. 
• Players were on a promotional shoot for Hero Honda and hence a meeting materialized with Hockey India. Wasn't that opportunistic?
• Gill says the matter can be solved in 15m!

How the general public sees it?

Although a few would empathize with the condition of the players but mostly people believe that players taking the country to ransom by stopping the ongoing camp, brings disrepute to the very game which they play. So, until and unless you have a bunch of ruthless adminstrators, such an action doesn't find approval from many in general public.

I agree, the demands must be genuine and the administrators may be truly thick-skinned but it can be debated what methodology players could have adopted to convey their point.
A bunch of players, who would turn out not to be the correct representatives of the whole lot, were supposed to be in the Capital for a promotional event.

Precisely a week before this, players give an ultimatum and sit on a strike. A couple of days later, stage is set for negotiation because, as planned, the players are in Delhi.

Whether it is opportunistic or not, is a debatable topic?

The players could have raised this topic earlier but for what reason the topic is escalated only now is beyond comprehension. Somehow I feel relieved that this happened now and not in the last week of February.

So, what are the other ways to convey your point but still don't downgrade the game?
- Sit on a rotational fast everyday to convey your point.
- Come up with creative methods to convey one’s point.
- Practice with a band on their arms that conveys that conveys their point symbolically. (Media will anyway report and the whole world will know their grievances)
- Keep sending letters (and copies of the same to the media) to Hockey India and prepare a fair ground for a strike and the negotiation.

The problem with the whole thing is: Players don't attend the camp, then they go on a meeting with the officials. The officials are perfect on negotiation skills. Players don’t have a dedicated leader and they lack negotiation skills.

To negotiate one must have a strong ground, a tuft negotiator and a dedicated leader in the fore-front.

Guess what happened? The players left Delhi saying that all is solved. Few hours later, made a U-turn. Possibly, they were not having a genuine leader!
Sitting on strike for non-payment of dues for 1 tournament, Champions Challenge, doesn't sound like a very strong point. I am not saying it's an invalid point. But strike is too extreme a step.

Imagine what the officials must be thinking: "Oh, you are a bunch of directionless people and after what you have done, we will give you peanuts. If you don’t settle in that, we know how to get things right."

Now, everyone knows the players are divided! Mind you, administrators also know!

I am fairly sure with such a weak front, officials will have their way, peacefully.

Was strike the only way to sort out this matter, is what I am wondering?

Sadly, this time, I just feel the players could have preserved the pride of the game and taken it forward in a much better manner.

Revolt can be genuine but how you conduct it will dictate its success.
Of how I foresee things, it's just a matter of days the camp will re-start with hardly anything extra than what is already promised.
Sad but true!!