A battle of egos between Hockey India President Narinder Batra and coach Paul van Ass
How do you feel if a non-issue turns into a major issue? That’s what Indian hockey fans would be feeling if they closely follow the so-called face-off between ‘until now’ head coach Paul van Ass and Hockey India President Narender Batra after the India-Malaysia game at the recent FIH Hockey World League Semifinal Round in Antwerp, Belgium.
Of course, Batra has been categorically saying that no such ‘face-off occurred’ after the India-Malaysia game and that he knows quite well all the protocols associated with international hockey. The truth is Batra indeed walked towards the players after the Malaysia match in Belgium and urged the players to pull up their socks for the next games mentioning how the team scraped through with two late goals.
One is not sure whether the Hockey India President meeting the players after the match and talking to them is a violation of any protocol as we don’t know what kind of protocols are in place for international games. Paul van Ass, apparently, gently told Batra that the latter can have a word with the players later. A source privy to the incident said, “It is a non-issue. Batra just told the players to raise their performance before the future games, while Paul van Ass told him that he can talk to the players later and not at that time.”
One is not sure what transpired between the Hockey India President and Paul can Ass after that as it resulted in the Dutchman not joining the team for the national camp as expected on July 17. It could be possible that Batra may have not taken kindly to Paul Van Ass’ gesture, or it is also possible that the Dutchman was far from impressed with Batra talking to the players just after the game.
For hockey lovers, the Federation President meeting the players after a game and a coach telling him to talk to the players later appear to be a non-issue as a professional coach would always have his own way of functioning. One is not sure whether ‘egos’ are play, but the latest incident is a huge dampener on Indian team’s Olympic preparations.