Sports
Indian coach best option for team: Dhanraj Pillay (Interview)
By
Sandip Sikdar New Delhi, March 9
Unhappy that a Dutch has
been made the new chief coach for the men's national team, legendary
hockey player Dhanraj Pillay said an Indian would have been the best
option for the post.
In association with Hockey India (HI), the
Sports Authority of India (SAI) has named that Paul van Ass will take
charge of the Indian team following Terry Walsh's ouster last year.
"An
Indian coach is the best option for the country. Language barrier is a
big problem for the boys. I have seen it myself. In my own team, Uttar
Pradesh Wizards, I saw how much problem we had. Our Indian players don't
understand their English because of their accent," Dhanraj told IANS in
an interview.
The 46-year-old is the technical director of
Hockey India League (HIL) franchise UP Wizards where Dutchman Roelant
Oltmans is the head coach.
The former India captain said the
fortunes of Indian hockey have not changed despite the federation
bringing in foreign coaches for quite a while.
"In the last 10
years, have the foreign coaches taken the team to another level? No.
They are still there. The level has not gone up. It is the same when
Indian coaches were there during my playing days," said Dhanraj, whose
illustrious international career spanned from 1989 to 2004.
"If
HI, the government, the sports ministry are thinking that foreign
coaches are better... let us see how good the new coach will be."
Pillay
earned 339 international caps, and led India to the 1998 Asian Games
gold and the 2003 Asia Cup win. He was a prolific centre forward and is
the only hockey player in the world to have played in four World Cups,
four Olympics, four Champions Trophy and four Asian Games.
Asked
about the appointment of van Ass, who led the Netherlands to an Olympic
silver in 2012 in London, the four-time Olympian refused to comment. "I
will talk later when the time is right."
The third edition of the
HIL which concluded on February 22 saw Ranchi Rays lift the title.
Though the league, which also has the best players across the globe
taking part, has helped Indian players financially in an enormous way,
is the month-long league enough to raise the standard of hockey in
India?
"We have found some players in the last three years who
have gone on to play for India. Nikkin Thimmaiah, Pradeep More,
Ramandeep Singh and many others, they all came out of this league," said
Dhanraj, who also played in four World Cups.
(Sandip Sikdar can be contacted at [email protected])