Captaincy muddle exposes IHF’s flaws

The conflicting statements emanating from the federation officials has contributed as much to the confusion as its typical indecisiveness over the captaincy issue.

In hockey, unlike in cricket, captaincy is not as "visible". But then, it is important for the captain to control and dictate the flow his team’s moves with timely instructions on the field of play. It would necessarily mean that the captain has vision, is communicative and highly sensitive to the trend of the match.

Much of the planning isdone before the game during the team meetings in which the captain has a major role to play in fine-tuning strategy worked out by the coaches. And on the field, the onus is on him to direct the execution of the game-plan. In this context, it is imperative that the captain commands respect and is articulate enough to effectively convey instructions.

But then, in Indian hockey, such requirements are rarely acknowledged, much less considered, and the captaincy is usually given to the senior-most player, regardless of his credentials or ability as a leader of men.

Many players keep track of not only their own records, but also those of their team-mates with captaincy in mind. But as IHF is not in the habit of maintaining detailed data on individual players, the seniority issue often gets mixed up with personalities.

In the present instance, if seniority is the yardstick, then somebody like Sabu Varkey or Anil Aldrin eminently qualify for the post ahead of Baljit Singh Saini or, for that matter, RamandeepSingh.

However, given the fact that IHF chief KPS Gill needed to be persuaded to even get Sabu included in the National team, the obvious inference would be that the Bharat Petroleum star is not in the running for captaincy. In which case, Aldrin would have been the most obvious choice.

On the plus side, it must be mentioned that Saini, like Ramandeep and Aldrin, is very articulate. But, in a team full of seniors, Saini has been in a shadow, his spectacular performance in the 1995 SAF Games final notwithstanding. Injuries have plagued his career, but he has shown the toughness to bounce back.

Perhaps, something good might yet come out of the IHF bunglings and Saini would make the best of the chance given to him.