Changes mulled in hockey set-up

CHENNAI : Death, taxes and uncertainty over the position of chief coach of the Indian hockey team after every major event. It’s Sjoerd Marijne under the spotlight now after the men’s team returned empty-handed from Gold Coast. For a team that had reached the final in 2010 and 2014, the powers that be are unhappy about the flop show this time out. To find out what went wrong, Hockey India summoned custodian PR Sreejesh, captain Manpreet Singh and experienced pros Rupinderpal Singh and SV Sunil to New Delhi on Tuesday.

While they didn’t speak out against the coach, they told HI it would have been better if they had gone to Australia on the back of proper matchplay with the same team members. That is a fair assertion — in the two lead-up tournaments the team played (Sultan Azlan Shah Cup and 4 Nations in New Zealand), the management went in with two experimental sides.

They were of the opinion that ‘not having a single tournament with the same team’ was, in hindsight, a mistake. Interestingly, both Australia and England took full strength squads to Sultan Azlan Shah and those benefits were seen during the CWG. Meanwhile, the men’s team probables — a list believed to be containing more than 55 names — for the Champions Trophy will be named on Thursday.

It’s expected that the likes of Sardar Singh, SK Uthappa and Ramandeep Singh, three of the more senior campaigners who weren’t picked for CWG, will figure in the scheme of things. Representatives of the men’s team (Marijne could be present if routine visa issues are sorted on time) — most likely Manpreet — will address the media in Bengaluru on Tuesday (May 1). It will be a closely followed media conference as it will be the first time that members will speak since finishing fourth in Gold Coast. More answers could be forthcoming then.