We are aiming for gold at Azlan Shah: Harendra Singh

With the Hockey World Cup and the Commonwealth Games coming up next year, the Azlan Shah Cup is seen by many as the preparatory launch pad for the tough season ahead. In a rendezvous with Pratik Dogra of Zee News, teams coach Harendra Singh sets targets for his wards, amongst other things.What are your expectations as the team gears up for the Azlan Shah tourney?

I am aiming for a podium finish. Nothing less than the top spot would satisfy me. We will go for gold. Since the Olympic debacle last year, India has doled out impressive performances of late… A lot of factors are responsible. The biggest change now is that, unlike in the past, only the best players in the country represent India. Ever since the Adhoc committee has come into being, the parameter for selection has been purely performance. You play well, you are in. You don’t perform, you are not. As simple as that. You mean earlier that was not the case? Obviously. There were pressures. Lobbies had to be catered to. There was no consistency in selection. The Adhoc committee has brought in more transparency in selection matters. You have been with team for a long time. Would you attribute faulty team selection for India’s failure to qualify for Olympics? To a large extent, yes. Then few key players were not available due to injuries. Since the debacle, the Indian hockey has shown promise. Recent performances in New Zealand, Gold Cup and of course starting with the Azlan Shah last year (India finished runners-up), have been encouraging. Is the hope genuine or would it prove to be another false dawn? This is no false dawn. The team is riding an upward crust. We have reasons to be optimistic. This is a talented bunch. The present group has the right mix of youth and experience. With every outing, boys are gaining in confidence. We are getting better. Return of seniors like (Arjun) Halappa, (Deepak) Thakur, Prabhjot (Singh) has further strengthened the team. There was a similar upward trend seen in Indian hockey six years back. The team seemed to be peaking at the right time for the Olympics, before everything fell apart. Being an assistant coach then and a coach now, what is the difference between the Indian team then, and the current one? We did play well in 2003. But again, team selection is very important. There was too much chopping and changing in the side. The winning momentum was never allowed to be created. Players were insecure. It eventually took a toll on their performances. But now, again like I said before, there is more consistency. The winning combination is not tampered with unnecessarily. Players are motivated, as they know good performances would be rewarded. In India there is a fixation for everything foreign. A lot of people, including you, think that a foreign coach is the answer to the ills in Indian hockey? Yes. I maintain that a foreign coach is the long-term solution, which we should be looking at. Look, coaching is a specialized job. I don’t believe that great players make great coaches. Coaching is a complex process. Foreigners bring about a degree of professionalism. A coach at international level won’t teach techniques. His jobs involves planning, strategising. He needs to be well versed with latest gadgets. He should also be a psychologist. Psychologist? Yes. If you look at our performances, we play well before big tournaments. But at every major tourney, we come a cropper. That does not imply that our boys are in anyways lacking in skill. A player needs to be toughened mentally. They should be strong and able to withstand pressure. What else does a foreign coach bring to the table? Foreign coaches usually have their entourages comprising the entire coaching staff. Ideally, it should comprise a video analyser, masseur, a physiotherapist, a doctor, a trainer, a dietician and a psychologist. All top teams are backed by similar support staff. So you say that a foreign coach is mandatory if India wants to make rapid strides. Yes. Our country has produced great sportspersons in many games. But our sporting history is not rich with coaches of similar high pedigree. Foreigners have a better aptitude for coaching. With the World Cup and then the Commonwealth Games next year, this is a crucial year in terms of preparation. Yes. But we will take it tournament by tournament, series by series. We will give every match its due importance. It is important to develop the winning habit. We are also working to make the players mentally tougher. We aim for atleast a podium finish at both the events. We know we are capable. We just need to deliver. Do you think an IPL kind of event would help in popularising hockey in India? After all, the city based rivalry format was tried initially in hockey only (Premier Hockey League)? Personally, I am not in favour of any such tourney now as like you said, it is a crucial year. We have the Olympics and the Commonwealth next year, which we host and it is very important to keep our focus. An IPL like thing now would be a distraction for everyone. At least till 2010, I think, no. After that, may be.