East India Men’s hockey team captain V Baskaran, who led them to their last gold medal in the 1980 Olympics, lashed out at the players after their dismal show in the recent past. World cup. Hosts India finished ninth after Germany won the title in Bhubaneswar on 29 January.
India, hosting the World Cup for the second time in a row, were expected to reach at least the semi-finals – something they have not achieved since 1975. A drought-breaking bronze at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, the first medal since the 1980 Summer Games, gave good reason to be optimistic. However, the team, coached by Graham Reid and captained by Harmanpreet Singh, failed to live up to the expectations as they were knocked out by New Zealand in the crossover match.
To make matters worse, coach Graham Reid resigned shortly after the showpiece event ended. While Reid has come under fire for India’s poor show, Baskaran feels the blame lies on the players for failing to produce their ‘A game’ at the highest level.
A coach is only as good as the players he has. Defeat is demoralizing. What matters now is how we dust ourselves off and get up and keep going. The officials will surely select a great coach for 🇮🇳🏑. But the biggest responsibility lies with the players.- Viren Rasquinha (@virenrasquinha) January 31, 2023
Bhaskaran, former India captain and coach in the 1998 and 2006 World Cups, discusses what could have led to India’s under-par exit in the World Cup, Reid’s resignation and the way forward for Indian hockey.
Excerpts:
What is your reaction to Graham Reid resigning as India coach, especially when we have improved a lot under his leadership?
He transformed India into a competitive entity. During his tenure, we made improvements on many fronts. The first thing he improved was that we stopped conceding goals in the last two minutes. On the Australia tour before the World Cup, we saw the team come back from 2-1 down to win a match 4-3. Resignation is his own decision. Before we start talking about why he resigned or who can replace him, his decision should be respected along with his contribution. That’s Australian culture. A culture where if you don’t deliver, you own it. In my opinion, he definitely should have continued. He should have consulted Hockey India President Dilip Tirkey before resigning. Dileep being an Olympian himself must have understood the situation.
Why do you think Reid would have been forced to resign from his post despite being so successful and helping India break its Olympic medal drought?
I have heard, though I don’t know, that some players are not happy with the coaching. This is the attitude of our Indian players. You can’t blame the coach, the execution has to be done by the players. In the World Cup, everyone talked about changing the PC (penalty corner), but somewhere the players didn’t give their best. Whatever game plan or training you make (it won’t work) if the players don’t give their best. The same team minus four players did so well against Germany in the last Olympics, going 1-3 to win the bronze medal.
People expected this team to perform at a very high level. First I speak as a player. The Indian team did not have the fire that was there in the Olympics. Excluding Rupinder Pal Singh, Simranjit Singh, Dilpreet Singh and Gurjant Singh, there was a lot of experience in the team. The Netherlands are a brand new team when compared to the Europeans. How did those players execute at the highest level? Indian players lack this. Another thing maybe Graham Reid would have sensed a celebrity culture in the team. The Indian players must have thought they were celebrities.
where do we go from here? With the Hockey Pro League resuming in March and the Asian Games in nine months, how should Hockey India move forward?
Where do we go from here, Hockey India has a plan. Whether we stick with the same players or we will have a new setup. We have Pro League in March. In my opinion, the core group was not consistent. So many questions I can ask: How did Varun Kumar get back in the core group? After coming back from England, he was removed and then suddenly he came back. Lalit Upadhyay’s fitness is a good player, but some time ago he suffered a knee injury. Some sharpness was missing in the forward line. All other teams got field goals when they failed to get PC goals. We should have had more forwards in the squad of 18 instead of just four. The identity of the forward line was not very aggressive and this put pressure on the midfield.
Do you think it would be wise to have an Indian coach now, given that there are so many top competitions coming up and there is little time for anyone to adapt and settle?
First thing, Hockey India should form an advisory committee in hockey like in cricket. To select the coach. Search committee for players Dileep himself has been a great player so he should be able to do the right things. We need a committee to work systematically and properly. Because we have the Olympics coming up next year.
Going back to Reid seeking a mental conditioning coach for India. What are your thoughts on this?
I disagree. This team won the bronze medal without a mental coach. To be honest, we have players who have played more than 200 matches. The same team won the bronze medal by scoring four goals after being one goal behind. If you win, it’s hard work. When you lose it is because of lack of mental conditioning coach. Winning is all about making the right decisions.
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