BHUBANESWAR: Hockey India had a few months after the 2018 World Cup. They could afford to take a backseat, talk to all relevant stakeholders, take temperatures before coming to the conclusion that a change of guard was needed. In hindsight, it was the right decision was Graham Reid helped in delivering an Olympic medal.
Now that they have taken the decision ‘to move on towards a new approach to our team’, in the words of HI president Dilip Tirkey, it presents Tirkey with his first big test as president of the body. Sure, as head of the host association, he oversaw the conduct of what was, by all accounts, a very successful World Cup (at least according to the International Hockey Federation).
But make no mistake, this is a decision that HI could have avoided. But now that they have arrived at this conclusion, they don’t have time to waste. Apart from appointing a chief coach, they also have to bring on board a whole bevy of backroom staff including an analytical coach as well as an elite scientific trainer. With India’s fitness not up to scratch, HI can ill afford to allow the team to continue to drift in this department. Apart from that, they will also have to make a decision over the thorny issue of captaincy.
Elite teams usually don’t bother about who gets to wear the armband but in India, there is always a debate over this appointment. Is Harmanpreet Singh okay in being the captain -- in a fast-paced sport like hockey, a captain is usually left with many off-field work rather than work on the field -- or would he gave it away?
The other field Tirkey has to take a call on is the appointment of a mental coach. Reid made his position clear in the last week or so. Pundits like Ric Charlesworth too have made their position clear so now it’s between Tirkey and the players and the new head coach. Will the new head coach -- whoever that is -- be comfortable working with a mental coach? Do the current batch of Indian players feel comfortable in approaching a mental coach to discuss their insecurities? These are the questions Tirkey is faced with. The answers he arrives at could decide Indian hockey’s short to medium-term future.
