Bhaskaran should go, says Ashish Ballal

MiD DAY December 11, 2006

By: Suhrid Barua

BANGALORE: Words are just not enough to describe Indian hockey’s pitiable slip down the ladder. Doubtless, there is a great deal of dismay all around about the way Indian hockey has witnessed a steep fall. It’s the nadirAshish Ballal, the hero of the India’s win in the 1998 Bangkok Asian Games hockey final, is distraught with India’s ouster from the knockout stage at Doha. “It’s a sad day for India hockey. Surely, it can’t get worse than this. Reaching the semi-finals of the Asian Games was on expected lines. I think we’ve reached the nadir now,” he told MiD DAY.Blasting coach Vasudevan and his support staff for the team’s toothless performances, the 36-year-old Bangalorean said that there has to be an overhaul of the present set-up. “I won’t like to blame the federation for the mess. I think the coach has to own moral responsibility for the dismal shows. Get a foreign coach“Bhaskaran has always been a stop-gap kind of coach. I think he should step down and make way for someone who can resurrect out fortunes. All the selection gaffes we have been seeing is because of the coach and his support staff. Not just the coach, the assistant coach, physio should also be dumped rightway. A fresh lot has to be inducted in,” he said. “The time has come to scout for a foreign coach. I think Maurits Hendriks could be a good choice. He is the Spanish coach and the Spanish game is pretty similar to the Indian game,” Ballal stated.