Indian hockey is on way to a major upheaval for good. Coach Michael Nobbs has already indicated a great future as he sets his eyes on the juniors. The country’s fifth-place completion at the Sultan Azlan Shah tournament may not impress everyone. But if the statements of Nobbs have to be taken into consideration for sure, it was indeed a good effort by a team filled with juniors.
Starting from this season, the plan is to groom youngsters, said Nobbs. And there is every reason to do so.
“The senior players have had a tough season because of which injuries and staleness had crept in. There wasn’t enough time for rest. The Junior World Cup is a priority for us. The juniors are our future for the Olympics and beyond,” said Nobbs.
“The Hockey India (HI) League was an opportunity for players to come up through a system.
Previously, we would not have seen them till the Junior World Cup. It was also to help the transition from the junior to senior team to be more seamless. The results were reasonable and the guys learnt a lot. They got better with matches.”
The thinking procedure behind grooming juniors is to form a talent pool so that there is a steady coordination with the senior team whenever the need arises. It will also induce more competition for places. After going through the recent performances, one can have a huge sigh of relief for sure. However, it all depends upon the way in which the juniors will take the words of Nobbs. Irrespective of the changes to be brought in, the dedicated Indian coach has already indicated some signals for the prolific performance of the entire team for sure.
Nobbs was pretty clear about inclusion of seniors in the squad henceforth. “We need a base of some 20 players and it will be hard for them (seniors) to make the team. But if you want to be in, you have to be better than the ones who are there,” he informed.
After being happy with the talent at display in Malaysia, Nobbs expects to play an even major role with the perfect features considered as per the requirement. With an inexperienced side, the Indians finished fifth and beat Pakistan twice. “We should have been playing for the third place. The video referral system in Malaysia needs to be looked at. We took a young team with a specific purpose and beating Pakistan twice was good,” he said.
The Indian hockey team suffered a severe setback after its forgettable London Olympics 2012 debacle. There were no notable performances from the Indian team and it was pathetic to observe that the team remained at the bottom place. It was rather a shocking performance for the fans back home considering the great performances in the past during which it has secured an Olympic gold as well.
Rio games in 2016 are seen as the first milestone to carve a unique niche for the team by Nobbs. Hopefully, everything goes as per the plan.
