Rajinder stresses importance of collective effort

By V.V. Subrahmanyam

HYDERABAD, SEPT. 26. Focus on short-corner conversion. Better rate of goal-scoring by the forwardline. Quick release of pressure on the defence. Fending off penalty-corners. Efficient man-to-man marking. Importance of collective effort. These may sound as a lesson for someone who has started hockey seriously a few days ago. But, it is not so. These are the points emphasised by chief coach Rajinder Singh to the members of the Australia- bound Junior World Cup squad during the training sessions at the Begumpet Police Stadium here.

With the team leaving in a couple of days for Hobart for the World Cup commencing from October 9, Rajinder Singh seems to be a very practical person. ``I don't promise that I will be back with a medal. Our objective is to play to the potential and take the entire tournament match-by-match,'' he said in a chat with The Hindu. ``There is no point in boasting about a team's chances considering the strong competition that is bound to be there nowadays,'' he pointed out. And, he should know it better for he was once the top-scorer with 14 goals in the 1981 World Cup in Mumbai. All of them through penalty-corners, the full-back of yesteryear asserts.

Interestingly, Rajinder does not believe that the not- so impressive performance of Indians in the four-Test series against Malaysia should be a fair reflection of the talent that is in hand. ``With the exception of three players, none of the World Cup-bound squad played there,'' he said. ``The only thing which worries me is how well the players adjust to the cold weather after the strenuous sessions in this scorching heat of Hyderabad,'' he said. ``However, thanks to the IHF gesture of sending the team much early for a camp in Sydney to acclimatise to the weather there, once we adapt to those conditions and ensure there are no injuries, we should be a force to reckon with,'' he said. Rajinder who is with the juniors for almost a year, however, felt that the Indians could comfortably beat the Europeans by their skills. ``These are the days when goalkeepers hold the key. Now most of the contests are decided in the dying minutes,'' he said. Then what is the solution? ``That is exactly the reason why Anthony Brient of ITI Bangalore has been specifically called to train the two goalkeepers Devesh Chauhan and Bharat Chetri.'' Brient said that he primarily made them practise with tennis balls, hit with power from close range, for hours on end for better agility and concentration. Meditation was also taught to the goalies.

Rajinder Singh does not believe that the tag of being runner-up for the last four years in the Junior World Cup will have a bearing on the players. ``We definitely enjoy that reputation. But at the same time we don't forget that is past. The job ahead is more difficult and important. Definitely, we pin a lot of hope on penalty-corner conversion by the new find Jugraj Singh. For one who scored 14 goals in the Asia Youth Cup in Ipoh recently, Jugraj seems to be the right man for the job. Rajinder takes satisfaction from the fact that the Indians had played against 10 of the 16 teams in the fray including Australia, South Korea, Poland, in recent times. ''This should come very handy,`` he added.

Though he doesn't believe in oozing confidence, a little bit of probing does reveal that the SAI coach from Delhi is banking heavily on the simple logic - if only the players translate whatever they have learnt in the camp in the big matches, things would only look up. ''Basically, each and every player should avail the opportunity to play in such a prestigious tournament to the fullest extent possible. This attitude will inevitably have a direct and positive bearing on the team's performance,`` he said. Himself an expert in penalty-corners during his heyday, Rajinder said that while the Europeans preferred to drag the ball, the Indians, or for that matter the Asians prefer to rely on variations. ''I still believe that this strategy can work if only we believe in ourselves,`` he asserted. He has no complaints about the format, which says that the top two from each of the four groups will again lock themselves in another tussle to clinch the berths for knock-out phase. ''The format is not just for us. It is for everyone. So, we should not think too much about it,`` was the way he brushed aside the issue.

Rajinder Singh believes the next 15 days will be crucial as a lot depends on how the players adjust and prepare themselves mentally for the battle. ''We are defintely playing three to four matches against some of the top club sides in Sydney to know the strengths and weaknesses and also find out who fits where. Only after these matches, we will decide who should get the first chance to play in the early matches,`` he said.

For the record, India is grouped alongwith Canada, Scotland, Spain in Group C. Only time will tell how effective the strenuous practice sessions - three hours each in mornings and evenings daily - will be.

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