Bengaluru’s Sports Authority of India campus at Kengeri on the city’s outskirts is a secluded place, away from noise and buzz. When the mind is at peace, the setting is ideal to focus on the task at hand, like studies for example. The India men probables under chief coach Graham Reid, will be coming together for the first time after the Olympics bronze medal feat at Tokyo 2020. Two outstanding students from that batch will be missing when the hockey lessons resume — defenders Birendra Lakra, Rupinder Pal Singh. Each one a stalwart, with a track record of big-match performances, retired from international appearances. More names are likely to be kept away.
The swift exit by these two, days before the national camp commenced at Bengaluru, was as sudden as the exclusion of seasoned frontline players, Akashdeep Singh and SV Sunil, from the squad chosen for Tokyo 2020. The latter was the third to join the retired players list. The common factor between the two decisions involving four seniors, each one an influential player on the turf, is the chief coach having his way in selection and team formation. Reid was successful in getting the federation, Hockey India, buy into his vision. Ruthless decisions followed as India men’s hockey (world number three in FIH rankings) steps into the future.
Reid’s judgement in leaving out seasoned forwards Akashdeep and Sunil, capable of netting match-winning goals, was questioned by ex-India players, reputed coaches. He chose to travel to Tokyo without experience in the ranks. Going by the podium finish for India, where decisive goals were created and converted by those entrusted with the task, the coach clearly knew what he wanted from those picked. Lakra, one of two Olympics vice-captains in the retired list, was among India performers at the Games. So was drag flicker Rupinder, a leader at the back due to physical presence, mentally strong to be trusted with taking penalty-strokes.
Success at the Olympics was a rare event for India. Changing a combination which worked wonderfully in Tokyo is a rare move. Conventional thought says that a settled team, buoyed by the Tokyo bronze, is better equipped to crack the code at 2022 Hangzhou Asian Games. A title will confirm a berth at the 2024 Olympics in Paris. Having come this far, the chief coach could have chosen continuity and drafted new faces gradually. Instead, he chose to walk down the overhaul path, risking his neck. Such a dramatic step is tough to execute without backing from the federation, whose reaction to the seniors retiring was appreciation and applause.
Rupinder, Birendra and Sunil cleared the way for Reid to accomplish the sweeping changes to take place and results happen three years from now. HI’s decision to keep the faith in the Australian is a departure from the past. Indian hockey building on success by the national team had been an exception earlier. The Asian Games 1998 gold in Bangkok and the federation reaction then stands out as an example of our inability to celebrate success, forget about learning from failure. National men’s coach, M K Kaushik, master in player-management and an accomplished winger in his prime, was removed from his post after the squad returned from Thailand.
As if this shock move was not enough, the Indian Hockey Federation (as the national body was called then) singled out seven senior players for special punishment. The rebel group, coach and players, were holding the governing body accountable for performance incentives promised. Indian hockey reeled from the aftershock of a high-handed decision in the time of national celebration and a victory tour by the players captained by Dhanraj Pillay. The heartburn took a long time to heal, the rebuilding even longer. It took 16 years, or four Olympic cycles, to strike Asian Games gold again, beating Pakistan 4-2 (2014 Asian Games in Incheon, South Korea).
Interestingly, another famous Australian player-turned-India coach, Terry Walsh, supervised this climb to the summit in Asian hockey and a direct berth for 2016 Rio Olympics. Birendra Lakra, Rupinder Pal Singh, Akashdeep Singh and S V Sunil were part of the success story at Incheon 2014. When Team India returned to the Olympic stage at Rio, the federation (Hockey India) severed ties with the Aussie for mysterious reasons not connected to player performance. The credentials of Dronacharya awardee Jude Felix, an assistant to Walsh and an ex-India World Cup captain-turned-coach, was overlooked for Rio. Indian hockey sought foreign expertise again.
Roelant Oltmans from The Netherlands, a famous coach at club and international hockey, was drafted in after exposure to the Hockey India League. Under him, India advanced to the knockout stage before going down 1-3 in the quarter-final to emerging European power Belgium, later to be crowned the Olympic champion after beating The Netherlands and Argentina (semi-final and final respectively). Two years later, another Asian Games (2018 Jakarta) campaign by India resumed under another person’s supervision. India’s own Harender Singh, a FIH qualified coach and former international, was handed the reins.
For an Asian hockey power, returning with a bronze medal was not good enough. Nor was a first four placing at the 2019 FIH Men’s World Cup in Bhubaneshwar on par with HI’s expectations. Reid found favour with the federation in 2019, replacing Harender, another Dronacharya awardee and currently attached to USA Hockey. The former is the fourth Australian working away from home here (after India stints at different times by Ric Charlesworth, Walsh and Michael Nobbs) and the first India coach to return with an Olympic medal.
Team India stood out at Tokyo 2020 for tireless running, individual skills, lightning counter-attacks and ability to fight back. Experience played a part in the podium finish (PR Sreejesh, Manpreet Singh, Rupinder for example) as did youthful exuberance. Continuity or change till the 2022 Asian Games is a tough question. Reid can be held accountable if he can have his way, as Tokyo teammates catch up with each other at Bengaluru.
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