Arjun is still the man for India

Recently concluded hockey national championships were overshadowed by World Series Hockey players who performed brilliantly and won two of the three individual awards. The players who were forced to miss London Olympics, due to a ban by FIH were brilliant in the field and made a point to Hockey India that they were wrong to discard these players. Out of three individual awards, two awards (best defender and best forward) were won by players to had participated in the World Series Hockey.

Arjun still India's best player

Players like Gurjinder Singh, Bharat Chikkara and Devinder Walmiki impressed the fans with their performance but it was the performance of Arjun Halappa who impressed the most in the tournament. Arjun’s performance for Air India was instrumental in helping Air India to reach the final of the tournament. Arjun was also adjudged the best forward of the tournament out of all forwards of 34 teams.

Last year when Arjun Halappa was sacked from the team due to old age (real reason- he spoke against team management), the wisdom of selectors was questioned as he was the main play maker of the team for nearly 10 years. Arjun Halappa started as forward, and then shifted to right half position even though it was evident that he is most suitable in the centre half position. A perfect team player, he changed his position in order to accommodate other talented players in the center of the field.

After his sacking from the Indian team, Arjun Halappa has nearly carried his WSH team Karnataka Lions and Air India on his own shoulder, and despite his age of 31, Arjun still has the ability to play for India to next 5 years.

In the Olympics, Indian team missed a player who could hold on the ball, control the tempo and distribute the ball to other players. India tried Sardara Singh in the role of a play maker but he was forced to help Indian team in the defense and he could not move ahead and control the proceedings during a game.

At the age of 31, he is still in his peak and mature enough to handle the responsibility of commanding the team in the field. Arjun’s presence in the field will give Indian team a stability which was missed during the Olympics.

The current Indian team lacks composure and creativity and there is no other player who can fill the role of play-maker (not even Sardara Singh). India has only Arjun in its ranks and he must be right away asked to join the team and take the responsibility of controlling the game for Indian team.

Arjun is one of the most experienced campaigners of India, his experience will be very important for the Indian team. Despite being the most talented player of India, his skills have not been utilized by the Indian team management.

Hockey India officials must forget the rivalry with Indian Hockey Federation and right away take Arjun Halappa in the team because he is a warrior who needs to back in the war zone and without him victory is impossible.