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Junior Indian hockey team selection - favouritism pervades?

A few years back on a hot, sunny afternoon in Mumbai, I saw the eventual champions Indian Army play Southern Railway. The Indian Army team had the game sewn up with a 4-1 lead. What caught my eye was the play of a 20-year-old youngster named Mangesh, playing for the losing team.

Notwithstanding the fact that he had already scored the first goal for his losing team, what astonished me was his play, full of life and energy from minutes 50 – 70, resulting eventually in a PC and the resultant goal.

He had started off as a midfielder, but at the tail end of a tiring game, he was playing as a lone striker, making long loping flank-to-flank runs  to relieve pressure off his beleaguered team-mates. His energy level was astonishing. Imagine my surprise when the redoubtable Munir Sait, based in Chennai, who was scouting talent then, informed me that he is able to practice only on a few occasions with his team in Chennai, since he lives in his village. Here was a man with innate endurance ability. A natural!

Did we see him invited to a tryout? Has any national coach/selector seen him play to help him develop his natural talent? Coach Nobbs complains of fitness. Is Mangesh not a prototypical hockey player needed by him and his trainer? There are so many such Mangeshes are there in India. And is India not a democratic equal country, where it doesn’t matter whether you come from a village or a big city? Whether you’re a Prime Minister’s son or an ordinary labourer’s, everybody is entitled to an equal opportunity.

On the flipside of the coin is Talwinder Singh, a perennial favourite of the powers that be and current junior Indian player. His claim to fame? Playing for India in a crucial match in 2011, red-carded for violence against host team Malaysia, a match which India deservedly went on to lose. A most dastardly act which, besides hurting the team, made them playing short handed. This young man, instead of being censured, is repeatedly in the India squad, being given a hockey stipend of Rs.10,000/month, just because he comes from a particular state, and possibly is a favourite of a particular selector.

His coming from the Surjit Singh Hockey Academy in Jalandhar, the hometown of the retired selector, is not the only qualification, hopefully! Maybe his knowledge of the home conditions and the Junior World Cup pitch is an advantage. Maybe he’s an outstanding player, even better than the many junior players who are already playing for the senior national side! Maybe, at 19, he will be able to control himself better than at 17!

Do coach Greg Clark and Baljit Saini, know about this incident? What about high-performance director Oltmans? Is he in the loop? Has he been made aware of a potential disaster on his junior team? Is there a report/dossier on this player? Will this factor be considered during the final phase of selections in deselecting/selecting this player. What kind of example will he be to others around him if he can get away with this?

And where is the sanctimonious FIH in all this? They, being the ultimate arbitrators of our sport of hockey, are responsible for “the proper conduct of the sport on the pitch” as indicated in that affidavit to judge Chawla before the Competition Commission of India. Was there a discussion, sanctions, memos to the parent association, expression of dislike for this action? They are very knowledgeable about this matter, so they cannot feign ignorance.

Are we going to hold them and the selectors responsible for “another stick on referee/player violence” in future? How about just a small whisper to the Hockey India guys? Can you please tell your selectors, “Avoid this. It is in your best interest”? FIH/ Hockey India, have you guys cleared this selection with your risk management department lawyers?

Selection of players for tryouts/national team is rudimentary and downright defective.

The above two anecdotal incidents highlight why India consistently fails at the national level. Wrong selection.“Favourites” selected on arbitrary criteria are continuously propagated, à la the Sandeep Singh saga. These players are the only ones being “shown” to the national coaches and selectors.  Here is corroboration from no less a source than legendary hockey player Dhanraj Pillay – in an interview with Sandeep Saxena of Sportstar, alluding to the same -

Question: Gregg Clark, in his capacity as the India junior coach, was present in the stands during the Nationals. How useful will the South African’s inputs be for talent spotting?

Answer (Pillay):   Coming to talent-spotting, Affan was in the India junior camp, but was dropped when the juniors were sent on a tour to Holland. He should have been there, instead of becoming available to represent Air India in the Senior Nationals. I hope Mr. Clark has changed his mind about Affan’s potential after seeing the junior player excel against the seniors in the Nationals. Junior India player Arman Qureshi was among the best performers in Pune. India’s best should get chances – whether experienced or not. The selection of players should not be affected by ego clashes between officials.

Coach, not the selectors, should select the team.

Since he has to deal with the personalities on the team, since he takes the blame when his team does not pan out, a similar question can be raised by us. How come Talwinder but no Affan and no Arman? There is certainly ground for a healthy difference of opinion. True. And if it is the coach’s selection, then all discussion and armchair quarter-backing will stop. That is his prerogative. But a team selected by some individuals who ultimately will not share in the responsibility of a failure, who just watch the highlights of a tryout session, are not afforded the same leeway. They can only be used as tiebreakers in the event of a coach’s selection dilemma between two equally good players.

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