Indian hockey was plunged into controversy yet again today when Dhanraj Pillay, the team’s most creative player, was omitted from the squad for next month’s Olympic Qualifying event in Madrid. And while the IHF said the decision was taken by the player on grounds of fitness, an emotional Pillay said he was fit but pulled out because ‘‘I joined the camp today and didn’t want other players talking behind my back’’. When the team was announced at the National Stadium today, IHF president KPS GIll said Pillay had informed him after reporting to the camp earlier today that he was pulling out due to lack of fitness. ‘‘Dhanraj has withdrawn himself, he has told me he is not match fit’’, Gill said. Pillay had been nursing a knee injury and had missed most of the pre-tournament camp, which began on February 11. He rejoined it today, a day before the team’s scheduled departure. Interestingly, the IHF did not conduct a fitness test on Pillay, though the player took part in a 45-minute practice match. ‘‘We saw his medical report’’, Gill told this reporter. ‘‘Pillay told us he was not fit. He said he required 13 more days.’’ It left the impression that Pillay was taking his own decisions on fitness. Ex-India goalkeeper Ashish Ballal says fitness tests are a misnomer in Indian hockey. ‘‘It’s very haphazardly conducted. There are no fitness parameters.’’ Pillay, though, was adamant that fitness was not the reason for his decision. ‘‘I am fit but there are certain issues. I didn’t want some of the players to talk behind my back if I had agreed to join the team. Everyone is aware about these issues. Why do you want to hear it from me?’’ His teammates, he explained, had long been bad-mouthing him, which the coaches and officials were ignoring. ‘‘Mr Gill cannot be present at the national camp but the coaches and officials are not feeding him correct information’’, he said. Signs of a deep rift between Pillay, the ageing but clear star of the side, and his juniors were first noticed at the 2002 Champions Trophy in Cologne, where Dhanraj played at his best. He’d been a catalyst in India’s comeback in the tournament but flopped in the crucial bronze-medal match against Pakistan. He later told this paper that players from Punjab, who were biased against him, did not pass the ball to him in that match. While Gill, when contacted later, said he didn’t wish to comment on Pillay’s statements of today, Indian team’s chief coach Rajinder Singh said, ‘‘Pillay informed Mr Gill that he was not fit. That is as far as I know.’’ And added, ‘‘I want to clarify that there is no problem in the team, among any of the team members.’’
