An extremely emotional individual, former hockey forward Dhanraj Pillay is upset with India’s capitulation by big margins to Australia, Belgium and Great Britain in the recent Fintro Hockey World League at Antwerp.
India lost 6-2 to Australia, 4-0 to Belgium in the semifinals and 5-1 to Great Britain in the third-fourth position match.
Engaged by the Sports Authority of Gujarat (SAG) the 47-year-old Dhanraj is currently training u-12, u-14, u-16 and u-18 boys in Vadodara.
Dhanraj appeared quite annoyed with the status of Dutchman Paul van Ass that has forced India to hunt for another coach a year before the summer Olympics in Rio, Brazil.
He did not want to dwell too much on Australians Michael Nobbs and Terry Walsh’s short stint with the Indian team.
A star player in the 1990s, Dhanraj reiterated his view that it was time to have faith in an Indian coach.
“What have the High Performance Director (Roelant Oltmans) and coach (van Ass) done. When I played for India, we never lost by such big margins to teams like Belgium and Great Britain.
“I agree that times have changed, and Indian team too has changed for the better, yet there is no excuse to lose by such big margins to Belgium and Great Britain.
“It’s not too late to appoint an Indian coach. He can prepare the team for the Rio Olympics which is a good 12 months away,” said Dhanraj.
Having played more than 330 matches for India, Dhanraj said the HI and SAI play a big role in the development of Indian hockey.
“HI brings in money, arranges camps and competitions and it has the right to request the Indian players to be consistent in their performances.
“The HI president and secretary have the right to ask reasonable questions. Most players don’t understand what the foreign coaches say. I have been a witness to this,” he said.
Meanwhile, M.M. Somaya, captain of the Indian team that won gold at the 1980 Moscow Olympics, is hopeful of the national team shaping up before the Rio Games.
“We have four to five players of international class; not all can be Sardar Singh though. A coach should be given four years to settle down and the results will fall into place.
“We were quite steady for a major part of the tournament (at Antwerp).
“A fit Indian team was playing well and it appeared the team looked good till the semifinals. Maybe there was a lapse in concentration thereafter.
“It takes time to understand the tactics a new or foreign coach wants to employ.
“They are up-to-date with modern techniques and playing style,” said Somaya.
