Sardar Singh, one of Indian hockey’s greatest centre-halfs, said he was forced to retire because he had been treated badly.
Speaking at the Ekamra Sports Literary Festival here on Saturday, he revealed the reasons behind his shock retirement.
“Shortly before the match against Pakistan at the Asia Cup at Dhaka, I was called to Hockey India’s High Performance Director David John’s room. He said that I had made mistakes and that I was playing an individual game,” he said. “I don’t think it is right for a coach to tell a player such things just before a game.”
Sardar said being neglected for major tournaments was another reason.
Getting worse
“Things changed for the worse after the sacking of coach Roelant Oltmans,” he said. “I was getting dropped without any discussion. John and coach Sjoerd Marijne wanted to try out new players.”
The 32-year-old also recalled an incident during a National camp that said much about the way the Indian players were treated.
“The team was not announced to the players but we were asked to see the list pasted in front of our rooms,” he said. “My name was not there.”