New Delhi: Romeo James does not wash his
hands off the accident that left Baljit Singh with a damaged eye and the remorseful goalkeeping coach is now praying for the India custodian's comeback to alleviate his sense of
guilt.
"I can never forget the pain Baljit suffered. Somehow I
feel myself responsible for it. I am continuously praying for
him. It will be the happiest day of my life when he makes a
comeback to the field," a penitent James said.
James was giving some practice to Baljit, Adrian D'Souza,
Bharat Chetri and PR Sreejesh on that fateful day when a golf
ball, used to improve the goalkeepers' reflex, sneaked through
Baljit's visor and hit his eye.
"That was the most horrible day of my life. I was
practising with four goalkeepers. We were in fact playing a
game and Adrian had won first game while Balli was winning the
second.”
"We thought that he is celebrating his victory as we were
some 10 yards away from him. Later we got to know that his eye
was severely injured.”
"It took 40 minutes to reach the hospital and he was
continuously telling me 'I am ok coach saab, tussi fikar na
karo(you don't worry)'. He himself called his father and told
him about the accident," James recalled.
Even though former players criticised the use of golf
ball in practice, James said they have been doing it for quite
a while without any accident.
"We have been using golf ball for the last two years. We
have specially designed helmets for that," he said.
Baljit apparently did not wear that special helmet during
the practice and James disclosed that there was only one such
headgear for four goalkeepers.
"Initially this camp was to be held in Bhopal but plans
were changed after new coach's arrival and it shifted here. In
this process, three helmets were left in Bhopal and we had
only one with us," he said.
Baljit's injury not only ruled him out of India's Europe
tour but also cast a shadow on his entire career with doctors
refusing to promise full vision for the custodian.
James has seen Jugraj Singh and Sandeep Singh recover
from accident to return to the field and he expects Baljit too
to make a successful comeback.
"Sandeep and Jugraj made a comeback after worst
accidents. Baljit has the will power to make it possible and I
am sure he will be back," said James, who has played more than
100 international matches for India.
Bureau Report
First Published: Wednesday, July 22, 2009, 17:27