Will Indian team come to support Gurbaj Singh? |
With everything going against him, Gurbaj Singh who is shocked
by the happenings has decided to knock on the court doors to get justice for
himself. There is no doubt, going to court will very well end the Gurbaj Singh’s
international career as Hockey India officials do not like questions to be
raised on their workings. Taking Hockey India to court will make sure, Gurbaj
Singh will never play for Indian team again (or even in Hockey India League) and
that does not solve any purpose except soothing the ego of Gurbaj Singh.
If Gurbaj thinks with a clear mind, there are only two
possibilities- either accept the ban and continue working out for nine months
and pray for his selection in team for RIO Olympics or get the support of
Indian hockey team members to fight on his behalf.
Current coach of Indian hockey team, Roelant Oltmans who
then was High Performance Director of Indian team has supported Gurbaj Singh
rubbishing the report that there was any disharmony in the team, saying that
there is no disharmony in the team and asked the reporters to ask PR Sreejesh,
VR Raghunath and Sardar Singh who were standing next to him after they returned
for Netherlands.
PR Sreejesh who has been playing with Gurbaj Singh for a
long time also refuted the claim saying, ‘He is a fantastic player, one of the
best in the team and as a co-player and I have found nothing wrong with his behaviour.
Gurbaj Singh also claimed to have the support of Captain
Sardar Singh and other team mates as well. On arriving in New Delhi, Roelant
Oltmans and Sardar Singh had meeting with Gurbaj Singh where they backed Gurbaj
against the allegations made by assistant coach Jude Felix.
If the squad really believes Gurbaj Singh has not done
anything wrong, they should come forward and support him, if not openly then by
talking to Narinder Batra, president of Hockey India.
This is very important time for Indian hockey team as they
prepare for the Olympics and if the team misses out one important and good
player because of some petty politics and personal ego of a coach then it would
be nothing short of a crime.
There is also no suspicion in the mind of hockey experts
that Gurbaj Singh is a problem child has he does run in with officials like he
did with former coach Michael Nobbs during London Olympics (Nobbs called him
selfish and charged him with dissent). K Arumugam of stick2hockey calling him a
great, famous player who is a complex pack and asks Hockey India to show some
compassion.
If, Indian team considers him important for their
preparations to Rio Olympics and believe he is innocent then they must not
waste time and talk to Narinder Batra and request him to overturn his ban so
that he can join Indian team in preparing for the Olympics. Since his ban,
Indian team management has tried various options at the right flank to replace Gurbaj
(defenders Raghunath, Rupinder and Jasjit were played in that position) but it
did not give Indian team the push that they received from the combination of Gurbaj,
SV Sunil and Dharamvir Singh. Gurbaj Singh has been great help while defending
too.
The left flank of Indian team is pretty set with Manpreet
Singh running the show, but with just months to go for the Olympics, ban handed
out to Gurbaj Singh has created problem for Indian team management. Its time,
Hockey India once again looks at the situation and overtunrs (or reduces) the
ban on Gurbaj Singh and the current squad who too are stumped after missing one
of their best players should come out to support him.
P.S- Hockey India must really look if Harbinder Singh is the
right people in any of Hockey India’s committees as his favourite past-time is
to teach hockey players a lesson. He did it to drag-flicker Sandeep Singh when
he was axed after London Olympics and now he did it with Gurbaj Singh.
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