Indian hockey prepare for the future

Indian dream of winning Asian games gold is now over, with arch rivals Pakistan beating Malaysia to win gold medal while Indian team had to satisfy with a bronze medal. Not winning gold medal makes it tough for Indian team to qualify for the Olympics. Everyone remembers the shame of not qualifying for the last edition of the Olympic Games and the off-field mess Indian hockey has created for itself after that debacle.

It has been nearly 3 years since that dreadful day and once again Indian hockey fans have same fear in their hearts. There would be hundred reasons of not winning the Gold in Asian Games, but there are not important. What is important is now the way ahead the team should go and qualify for the London Olympics 2012. There are few points from my view which team and federation should look for and improve.

1. Retain Jose Brasa: Not me, but thousands of people including Sardara Singh is talking the same thing, retain Jose Brasa, he has given hockey fans a hope of winning something. Be the bronze in Asian Games, or silver medal in CWG (which India won for the first time). Hard work put in by Jose Brasa and the team is commendable and the federation should think about it. Coach Harendra Singh has also resigned from his post, which is also shocking news for the hockey fans. Removing both the coaches will take the team behind and not ahead. So one of the main things that federation has to do is to retain Jose Brasa and if possible Harendra Singh too because both of them has worked hard with the team.

2. Sardara Singh: Sardara Singh is best player that the country has right now and he is forced to play in defence due to lack of good defenders but he is a midfield player and he should play in midfield. In the recent tournaments we have seen many gaps in midfield and there is big gap between attack and defence. Playing Sardara Singh at his usual central midfield role will give strength to the attack options of the team.

3. Defensive woes: Every team knows the defensive problems of Indian team and a lack of natural defender. After Dilip Tirkey retirement Indian team has not been able to find out a defender who can stand tall against the attack. Sandeep Singh and Dhanjay Mahadik are not natural defenders. Both of them have converted themselves to defenders but that is not answering the problems for the team. Indian team needs a good rock solid defender. Last good pair of defence that India had were Dilip Tirkey and Kanwalpreet Singh and since then Indian team has longed to get a defender to sort out the problems.

4. Problem of Position: Brasa has done a great job with Indian hockey but one of the things that are not going right for Indian hockey is the changing of position of players. In his early days as Indian coach he used to change the position of players and many players used to play out of position. Best example of this is Arjun Halappa, he started as a right out and is now playing in midfield. Gurbaj Singh and Arjun Halappa are now playing in the same position. In my opinion Rajpal Should play left out, Tushar Khandekar right in, Shivendra Singh as center forward, Sarvanjit Singh as right in and Arjun Halappa as right out. This combination will surely work for the Indian team.

5. Last minute goals: A news report in Bangalore mirror noted hockey historian B G Joshi about 9 instances where India could have won the match if not conceded last minute goals. Towards the end of every match Indian team tends to lose their focus and thus concede soft goals. Rajpal Singh had earlier said that the team has not solved the problem of last minute goals but still India conceded last minute goal against Malaysia. Last minute goals are affecting team morale and this problem has to be solved.

6. Fitness level improvement: Indian hockey both men and women lack physical fitness to play 70 minutes of game. Except against South Asian countries (read: Pakistan) the fitness level of Indian team has always been low as compared to other nations. Improvement in fitness level will give Indian team a good advantage because the team has necessary skills to perform. With improvement in physical strength this Indian side can take on any European team anytime.

Working on these points will surely give Indian much needed advantage over European countries and then we can match them and challenge them for the upcoming international tournaments.

Indian hockey is improving, but the team is still making old mistakes which are causing us games and medals. Indian hockey can improve and become a World force and bring back what Indian hockey needs the most, love of the fans.