The recent developments in Indian hockey have not only created bad blood between players and the coach but also raised many uncomfortable questions which merit an answer. And, unfortunately, this time around, it’s the players in the dock.

For long, Indian hockey players have been painted as the victims of administrative apathy. And the Indian media has always sided with the players, fighting for their rights. However, a close look at whatever happened in the past 10 days will strip any sympathy for some of them. Some of the issues that need to be answered:

The statements by Hockey India president AK Mattoo make it seem that coach Jose Brasa is wrong. “Announcing the captain is the federation’s prerogative,” Mattoo said. At the outset, that is wrong. Worldwide, in every team sport, selecting a team and naming the captain is a coach’s right. Even if things work differently in India, what is Hockey India doing about the players who did not attend the camp? Admitting there were problems, shouldn’t the federation take action against the players as well, since not attending a national camp despite being asked to, is a case of gross indiscipline?

Should the players be selected according to the coach or vice versa? Where in world do players decide who will be the coach? And among 40-odd players, it is humanly impossible for every 40 of them to like a coach. But simply not liking someone or not being someone’s favourite does not mean getting him replaced. In that case, there can never be a coach for the Indian hockey team!

All these problems started coming out only after Brasa announced that Sandeep Singh would be replaced as captain. If the players were not at the camp for almost a month, why did no one talk about them earlier? There are seven players not in the camp, and some of them like Dilip Tirkey have genuine injury issues that everyone is aware of. Why did the rest of the players stay quiet till now? Even now, it is not the players themselves who have spoken; it’s the “team sources” with vested interests who have given this news to the media, timing it with Sandeep’s replacement. Too much coincidence?

A day after Sandeep was reconfirmed as captain – overruling the coach which, in itself, is completely unheard of – he suddenly is announced to be fit enough to play the Champions Challenge, a major tournament, after being bed-ridden for 10 days! Such amazing recovery can only be a medical miracle!

Hockey India wants Brasa to discuss things with the Indian coaches. That is fine but if every decision has to be taken only after consultation and approval of the Indian coaches, why get a foreign coach in the first place? He was brought in to improve the situation and avoid the groupism that has marred Indian hockey for so long. Now, if he cannot take his decision, what is the point in getting him here, and paying a heavy cheque?

Four of the players who are alleged to have problem with Brasa – including Sandeep Singh – belong to Indian Airlines, the same organisation to which Hockey India’s director of planning Jagbir Singh and team India coach Harendra Singh belong to. Why didn’t they make any effort to talk to the players belonging to their own department?

Why does Sandeep Singh have a problem with every Indian coach except Harendra, who incidentally is also coach of his department? From Rajinder Singh Jr to Joaquim Carvalho to Brasa, everycoach has complained of an attitude problem with Sandeep.

Why does he have a problem with every coach?

One set of assistant coaches are always with the every senior teams in the last decade or so irrespective of whoever is the chief coach. This set of parasites, by their extreme manipulative skills and articulation of a different kind, lead their chief coach to disaster. Are we seeing yet another episode of this, now? It seems

Again, “team sources” have claimed that a youngster was made captain during Canada tour. What’s wrong in that? Brasa has repeatedly said that he is only experimenting so far, and the time to strategise and plan has only now begun. So what’s wrong in trying out new players for leadership? If there has to be a comparison, MS Dhoni started playing international cricket in 2003, 14 years after Sachin Tendulkar made his debut. But players like Tendulkar, Dravid, Laxman and Zaheer Khan have no problem playing under Dhoni. Even Dhanraj Pillay played under Ramandeep Singh in 2000 Olympics. Are the players in the current team a bigger name than Dhanraj?

Professionalism is an alien word in Indian hockey, but routine where Brasa comes from. If a player asks for two days’ leave and comes back after six days, and then has an issue if he is reprimanded for that, does than mean the coach is at fault? Indian hockey has slipped behind the world because of ad-hocism. Now, when someone tries top inculcate discipline and professionalism in the team, the players are being pulled out of their comfort zone. Why no action is being taken against the players?

Even a level 2 and level 3 coach in India admits that most players in the country have wrong playing techniques, that most of them don’t even know many basics. This they say in discussion and private talk, but never say openly, and those who do are not listened to. Now a foreigner has dared to say the same thing openly and in strict terms to the players, and it has become an ego issue. Why? The same coach is also saying that a player is extremely skilled and among the best in the world but only needs to adjust a little. What’s wrong in learning something new? Are our international players so perfect and complete that no one can teach them anything?. If it so, why are we not winning?

Finally, vested interests in the team may have had their way this time around, but the recent incidents only make the future of Indian hockey even more worrying. If the administrators are really serious about improving Indian hockey, they better learn to follow the international ways and standards. Else it wont be a big surprise to see the team slipping even further. And then, sadly, no one will even notice who is the captain, or even whether there is a team or not.