BHUBANESWAR: India's former hockey captain Sardar Singh, who announced his retirement after the Asian Games earlier this year, on Saturday broke his silence over the decision to quit and blamed Hockey India's (HI) High Performance Director (HPD), David John, for ending his career.
India lost the Asian Games semi-final to Malaysia and had to settle for a bronze medal after beating Pakistan in the third-place playoff in Jakarta, but some of the incidents over the last year had traumatised Sardar, leading to his decision to leave the sport.
Sardar said that things went against him after Roelant Oltmans was asked to leave by HI. He was replaced by fellow Dutchman Sjoerd Marijne as coach.
"There were a lot of reasons behind my decision (to retire). After Oltmans was removed as coach, a lot of things happened. John and another foreign coach (Marijne) wanted to try new players. We won the (2017) Asia Cup and I was hoping to continue. But I was dropped without any discussion," Sardar, one of the finest midfielders India has ever produced, said.
"Then I was sent to the (2018) Sultan Azlan Shah Cup with some junior players, but when I came back, I was ignored again for the Commonwealth Games (CWG) in Gold Coast. So I started doubting myself at times, started questioning myself, despite being fit," he added.
For the record, Sardar said he was scoring as high as 21.4 on the yo-yo test until the last day he was in the Indian national camp. But still he was publicly called "slow" by John.
"I was never fast, my game has never been like that. So I don't know why John said that," the veteran of 314 international caps said. "I was told that I am playing individual hockey and then John asked me to play as a free man, which I accepted as well."
But what he narrated after that raised a lot of questions over the way Indian players are at times treated.
It was the end of the national camp ahead of the 2018 CWG. The team was announced, but not in front of the players. It was put on a sheet of paper pasted on the door of players' rooms. But Sardar was still modest while recalling that incident.
"Every coach has his own methods. We were called to the breakfast and told that there is a list pasted on your room door. Those who have their name on it can come to the ground, the others will be briefed later," he said.
India were coached by Marijne at that time.
"You generally change 2-3 players before a tournament, not the seniors who are the core of a team. That pack of 10-12 players should rather be given confidence. If you change players suddenly, and also coaches, it makes things difficult, especially in a team sport," Sardar said.
Marijne was removed as India coach after the team finished fourth in the CWG. John still holds the post of High Performance Director; however, the Sports Authority of India has hinted that the performance of some of the foreigners in the coaching set-up will be reviewed across sports.
After the Asian Games, Sardar was ignored from the list of probables for the Asian Champions Trophy, after which he announced his decision to hang up his boots.
India lost the Asian Games semi-final to Malaysia and had to settle for a bronze medal after beating Pakistan in the third-place playoff in Jakarta, but some of the incidents over the last year had traumatised Sardar, leading to his decision to leave the sport.
Sardar said that things went against him after Roelant Oltmans was asked to leave by HI. He was replaced by fellow Dutchman Sjoerd Marijne as coach.
"There were a lot of reasons behind my decision (to retire). After Oltmans was removed as coach, a lot of things happened. John and another foreign coach (Marijne) wanted to try new players. We won the (2017) Asia Cup and I was hoping to continue. But I was dropped without any discussion," Sardar, one of the finest midfielders India has ever produced, said.
"Then I was sent to the (2018) Sultan Azlan Shah Cup with some junior players, but when I came back, I was ignored again for the Commonwealth Games (CWG) in Gold Coast. So I started doubting myself at times, started questioning myself, despite being fit," he added.
For the record, Sardar said he was scoring as high as 21.4 on the yo-yo test until the last day he was in the Indian national camp. But still he was publicly called "slow" by John.
"I was never fast, my game has never been like that. So I don't know why John said that," the veteran of 314 international caps said. "I was told that I am playing individual hockey and then John asked me to play as a free man, which I accepted as well."
But what he narrated after that raised a lot of questions over the way Indian players are at times treated.
It was the end of the national camp ahead of the 2018 CWG. The team was announced, but not in front of the players. It was put on a sheet of paper pasted on the door of players' rooms. But Sardar was still modest while recalling that incident.
"Every coach has his own methods. We were called to the breakfast and told that there is a list pasted on your room door. Those who have their name on it can come to the ground, the others will be briefed later," he said.
India were coached by Marijne at that time.
"You generally change 2-3 players before a tournament, not the seniors who are the core of a team. That pack of 10-12 players should rather be given confidence. If you change players suddenly, and also coaches, it makes things difficult, especially in a team sport," Sardar said.
Marijne was removed as India coach after the team finished fourth in the CWG. John still holds the post of High Performance Director; however, the Sports Authority of India has hinted that the performance of some of the foreigners in the coaching set-up will be reviewed across sports.
After the Asian Games, Sardar was ignored from the list of probables for the Asian Champions Trophy, after which he announced his decision to hang up his boots.
Source : timesofindia[dot]indiatimes[dot]com
No comments:
Post a Comment