Indian eves looking good to win Hockey World League Round 2 Tourney

The Indian women’s hockey team have dished out some ‘consistent hockey’ in the FIH Hockey World League Round 2 Tourney being played at the Major Dhyan Chand National Stadium in New Delhi. The Ritu Rani-led side has gelled as a unit and exhibited ‘cohesive hockey’ throughout the tournament. A whopping 31 goals in four games is a phenomenal achievement by the Blueskirts, who (without being unfair to them) have also been guilty of frittering away numerous scoring chances.

As Indian stop-gap hockey coach Roelant Oltmans pointed out, “No team can score of every opportunity, scoring chances will always be there and it is unfair to expect any team to make the most of every scoring opportunity.” Point taken, but like every team does, there is always room for improvement since every team looks to outwit their opponent.

Indian have hardly been ‘challenged’ in the FIH Hockey World League Round 2 Tournament. Barring the first half of their third league game against Thailand, where they were not allowed to break free – the Indians found it hard to open the scoring, although their nerves eased a lot when Amandeep Kaur finally scored in the 25th minute but not before the Thai girls made it exceedingly hard for them to score by throwing everything inside their ‘D’.

That perhaps was the only time that the Indian team management had to ‘think hard’ about their game or else, it has been pretty much smooth sailing. India began their campaign in rollicking fashion, clobbering Ghana 13-0 before downing Poland 2-0 – a game they dominated but could not add any more goals to their kitty. They rounded off their third league tie with a 6-0 win over Thailand.

The Indians made a mockery of their quarterfinal tie against Singapore handing them a 10-0 drubbing and now faces Thailand in the semifinals. The Indian forwardline has clicked with Vandana Katariya leading the way with 10 goals, including two hat-tricks.

All and said done, it is safe to assume that the Indian eves are looking good to win the FIH Hockey World League Round 2 Tourney. At least, if their hitherto performance is anything to go by, it is difficult to believe that this 13th ranked side can be halted in their tracks by any other team.

 

Interview: Enjoy my rivalry with Somdev: Ramakumar Ramanathan

He has injected a fresh dose of excitement into Indian tennis, which has struggled to churn out names that can be seen doing great things for the country. Ramkumar Ramanathan is increasingly being talked about as the player to watch out for future – the 20-year-old Chennai lad made a phenomenal climb in rankings to break into the top-250, occupying the 211th position last November.

Ramkumar, who is under a scholarship scheme with the Gas Authority of India (GAIL), has been training in Spain over the past few years. The 6-foot-2-inch youngster first shot into prominence when he stunned the country’s top ranked player Somdev Devvarman at the 2014 Chennai Open and again defeated him at the recent Kolkata Open. Ramkumar talked on a range of topics concerning tennis in an exclusive interview.

Excerpts:
Q You had a significant ranking leap in 2014 as you broke into the top-250. What would you attribute to your superb run last year?
I have really worked hard on my game and I think the results are on account of that. I strived for consistency, always looking to raise the improvement bar and pretty chuffed with the way things have panned out for me. Tennis is all about having the right attitude backed by skill sets. Possessing the right attitude holds the key.


Q You have been training in Spain for the past four years. Tell us a bit about your stint over there?

I first went to Spain and spent three months over there. In the subsequent years, I have spent most part of the year over there and only came to India for my exams. I have worked under various coaches like Emilo Sanchez, Sergio Casal and Juan Balcells. The good thing about my training stint in Spain is that I don’t have to waste much time in travelling as my place of stay and training is the same, which allows me to focus on my game alone. I train for seven hours (gym and playing sessions) a day except for Sunday. My fitness has also improved in Spain. The Tamil Nadu Tennis Association (TNTA) along with IMG has supported me all these years and I owe a lot to them besides my dad, who has sacrificed a lot to see me emerge as a solid tennis player.

Q You first came into the limelight when you upset India’s top-ranked player Somdev Devvarman at the 2014 Aircel Chennai Open. You again beat him at the recent Kolkata Open Challenger Event. How do you look at your rivalry with him?
He is a great bloke and has done well for the country. I enjoy my rivalry with Somdev and I respect him for all he has achieved for the country.

Q Your are now ranked 257 in the world. When can we see you break into the top-100?
Look, it is difficult to set a time-frame as things can be unpredictable on court. You never know it can happen very soon – who knows I may have a great run in a big event which can boost my rankings – it is also possible that it may take a few seasons for me to break into the top-100.


Q India’s Davis Cup non-playing captain Anand Amritraj says you are the ‘rising star of Indian tennis’. What’s your take?
I’m glad that he thinks highly of me, but at the same time there is plenty of room for improvement. I have done well to reach where I am now, but there is a long way to go. I will keep working hard and stay focused.

Q Chennai has a rich tennis legacy. The likes of Ramanathan Krishnan, Vijay Amritraj and Ramesh Krishnan have served the country with distinction. It is after so many years that Chennai has found in you who can take the legacy forward.
All these guys you have mentioned were stalwarts. As I said, I have a long path to tread and for now I’m just looking to keep improving and move up in the rankings.


Q How do you assess the state of Indian tennis?

Well, a lot of talented juniors are coming through and I’m sure with the right support, they can do well for the country.

Q What are the upcoming tournaments you are taking part?
I will be departing for Spain later this month, just waiting for the visa to be through. I will be playing in quite a few Challengers in Spain alongside my training stint over there.

Q Tennis players have a hectic schedule. How do you unwind when you are not playing tennis?
I like to read books and prefer playing play poker online!

Analysis: Did England deserve to be shunted out of World Cup early?

Every World Cup would have its fair share of ‘shockers’ and England being shown ‘the 2015 ICC World Cup exit door’ by Bangladesh has to be without a shadow of doubt the ‘biggest stunner’ of the marquee event. A team that have reached the World Cup final four times and settled for a bridesmaid finish each time – was never expected to endure such an ignominy despite the lean trot they have been enduring in recent times. What could have gone wrong with England at the World Cup? Did their preparations for a tournament as huge as the World Cup go the desired way? Was the team selection faulty? Questions like these stare us on our face.

First and foremost, the axing of regular ODI skipper Alastair Cook just two months before the World Cup was something the English selectors could have done without. How often do we see a regular ODI captain being not just stripped of his captaincy as well as of his place barely months before the World Cup, with the baton handed over to another southpaw Eoin Morgan? Cook hasn’t done himself any good with his prolonged slump in form but how did it vindicate Morgan’s elevation to the hot seat considering his equally ‘not so happening’ batting form? The selectors did miss a trick or two by opting for a new skipper just two months before the World Cup, which demanded one question: did the ECB and the selectors treated the World Cup seriously or did they just merely went through the motions of picking a squad like they do for any other international series. Clearly, the impression one got was that the move reeked off a lack of planning and serious intent to put their best foot forward preparation-wise for the big-ticket event.

Another factor that let England badly down was the appalling run of captain Eoin Morgan. Every team derives inspiration in a captain leading from the front and in Morgan, England found someone, who was struggling to get runs, let alone dominate their batting department. The southpaw began the World Cup with a duck against Australia, before coming up with scores of 17, 46, 27 and followed with another duck in their must-win game against Bangladesh - his batting failures dented England’s morale and aspirations in the World Cup.

Not just Morgan, England appeared like a sloppy handwritten book with no player foisting it upon himself to take the fight to the opposition barring some flashes of brilliance here and there. Ian Bell was the only batsman, who looked consistent throughout the World Cup with scores of 36, 8, 54, 49, 63 – of course this sequence of scores may sound good for the record books but England needed much more from an experienced campaigner like him – England wanted someone like Bell to drop anchor at one and tough it out playing the big knocks and not exit to the pavilion after making promising forties, fifties and sixties.

Joe Root has been England’s best batsman over the last twelve months and showed that in ample measure when he slammed a fine century against Sri Lanka besides standing tall amidst the ruins in their big loss against New Zealand. James Taylor and Mooen Ali did play a few handy knocks, but lack of consistency of these guys bereft England batting of any firepower needed to punch holes in the opposition game plans. Gary Balance was the biggest flop in their batting unit, much ahead of skipper Morgan, scoring a measly 46 runs off four games before being asked to warm the reserves bench in the crucial tie against Bangladesh. Seriously speaking, England’s batting was principally responsible for their shameful early World Cup exit - not that their bowlers deserve copious praise.

The bowling unit was ragged and it meant if their batters provided a veneer of respectability to the team’s score, the bowlers undid that with some slipshod stuff. Take for instance the England-Sri Lanka game – a match where English bowlers managed to take just one wicket while defending a score of 309. The seasoned duo of James Anderson and Stuart Broad were pedestrian for most part and purely featured in all five games on past reputation. Anderson struggled to get a wicket in the first two games, while Broad also cut a disappointing figure. Between them, Anderson and Broad picked up seven wickets from five games, which just tell you England’s bowling woes. The question one needs to ask is: why were the duo of Anderson and Broad persisted with if they were out of form. Steven Finn and Chris Woakes performed much better than the two new ball operators – this is where the team management blundered – they needed to take some tough decisions and not just bank on past laurels of players.

In trying to get a perspective about England’s ODI performance, it is important to understand that it’s not as if something has suddenly gone awry for them. Statistics do tell a story. Going into the 2015 World Cup, England had made losing a habit they found it hard to get rid off. Prior to the World Cup, England had lost 26 of its 31 ODI matches, a fair assessment how the beginning of their ODI decline started in 2014. England were soundly beaten by Australia 1-4 after the Ashes mauling – they subsequent lost a five match ODI series to Sri Lanka 2-3, they also lost to India 1-3, followed by another 2-5 series loss to Sri Lanka in the latter’s backyard.

The biggest kneejerk reaction to a shocking defeat of a fancied side in the World Cup is to ensure heads roll – in this case skipper Eoin Morgan and coach Peter Moores are under the criticism scanner. But the point is: how is England going to rebound from this low and show the cricketing world that they are not finished as an ODI side? Only time will tell!

 

Bangladesh fast shedding ‘minnows’ tag

This piece was published in Sportskeeda

 

Every dog has its day goes the saying and the Bangladesh cricket team cannot be fault for thinking that their day under the sun or should I say under floodlights has finally come! Ever since the Bangla Tigers were inducted into the cauldron of international cricket, they have been at the receiving end of lop-sided defeats, which bordered on morale-pounding kind far removed from the confidence-injecting triumphs, which would spur on bigger things.

There was always a lurking feeling that the Bangladesh team was teeming with flair and promise, but a lot of times they have only contrived to exude a ‘flatter to deceive’ feeling. Over the years, Bangladesh has churned out the likes of Mohammed Ashraful (his singlehanded demotion of mighty Australia in one game in England is still remembered fondly) and Mohammed Rafique, who were talked about in glowing terms – it’s a different matter that the former didn’t quite realized his potential, while the latter served his country with distinction.

Somehow, Bangladesh never seemed to have a coterie of five-six solid players, who on their day can inflict serious damage on the opposition irrespective of whether it was a world number one side or any other top side. Over the past few years, there is strong criticism about the Bangladesh side that was heavily reliant on one Shakib Al Hasan, who is not just a fluent strokemaker, a brilliant fielder and more than a handy left-arm spinner. Without mincing words, one felt that Shakib had to do everything by himself for Bangladesh to look competitive against any frontline side. We have seen on umpteen occasions Shakib performing the ‘rescue act’ for Bangladesh be it a Test match or a one-day game either with the bat or ball. Bangladesh also has another hugely talented Tamin Iqbal, who would occasionally fire befitting his reputation (we all remember his Test ton at Lord’s) much to the frustration of his team.

The perspective one is trying to draw is that Bangladesh never had the batting and bowling units to threaten top sides, though there are signs that this team was getting closer towards fast shedding the tag of ‘minnows’. The 2015 World Cup saw a vastly transformed Bangladesh side, which got hunger instilled in their ranks to push the envelope and make other sides realize that their days of being minnows are close to being over.

Bangladesh’s epochal victory over England on Monday, which saw the latter out of the World Cup has was a statement-making one – a realization that top sides cannot afford to take them lightly. Shakib Al Hasan, one man Bangladesh counts on to fire every time missed out against England and despite that Bangladesh were able to amass a decent score in excess of 270- thanks largely to a fine century by Mahmudullah, who has grown in stature over the past few years, having played the second fiddle to the likes of Shakib and Tamim. Former skipper and gloveman Mushfiqur Rahim, who started off as a grafter, accumulating the ones and twos with a occasionally boundary, now seems to have armed himself with more strokes in his repertoire than ever before. The sight of Mushfiqur unleashing the big shots effectively is a novelty for all of us – his batting has rapidly improved, especially in the last couple of years.

Skipper Mashrafe Mortaza has been an able soldier for the team over the years, despite a plethora of injuries dogging his cricketing career. Mortaza was perhaps the only bowler, who used to clock speeds in excess of 140 kmph for some years, as most others were gentle medium-pacers who could be only expected to do the containment job at best of times rather than blast batters out.

This current side has the duo of Rubel Hossain and 19-year-old Taskin Ahmed, who touch excess of 140 kmph with ease and can make things difficult for the opposition with their pace and swing movement – the delivery by Taskin that prised out a well-set Jos Butler would aptly sum it up. Rubel showed a lot of maturity first accounting for vastly experienced Ian Bell before polishing off the English tail to trigger joyous celebrations in the Bangladesh camp.

This Bangladesh side appears more ‘complete’ than ever and does not easily get overawed by the reputation of other teams and are armed with brimming self-belief that enables them to compete without bothering about the outcome of a match. Expecting Bangladesh to go beyond the quarterfinals would sound slightly over the top, but any team that is going to underestimate them as minnows will have to pay a heavy price as this side thrive being underdogs.

India’s Azlan Shah camp begins on March 15

The Indian senior men’s hockey team players will assembly in New Delhi for the preparatory camp for the upcoming Sultan Azlan Shah Cup, which begins at the Major Dhyan Chand National Stadium. As many as 33 probables will be put through the paces under the watchful eyes of newly-installed national coach Paul van Ass and his support staff.
The national players had a good match practice in the third Hero Hockey India League turning out for different franchises and had a three-week rest before they hit the practice drills once again. The camp is expected to be held till April 1 – the day the team departs for Ipoh on April 3 – the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup begins from April 5 and runs till April 12.
Besides India this year’s edition features defending champions Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Korea and hosts Malaysia, who interestingly have never won this event, having finished runners-up twice on the trot in the 2013 and 2014 editions. South Africa was another team that was supposed to be part of the 2015 edition but backed out at the eleventh hour.

Thornton to take charge of Indian eves on March 11

The Indian women’s hockey team’s newly-appointed foreign coach Anthony Thornton will take up his new job on March 11. Thornton, a member of the Black Sticks team that finished eighth at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics, will replace Australian Neil Hawgood, who had stepped down after more than a two-year stint to take up a consultant job with the Malaysian hockey team.
Thornton will have to carry on the good work done by Hawgood, during whose stint the Indian eves bagged a bronze at the 2014 Incheon Asian Games besides winning a bronze in the 2013 Asia Cup. It was under Hawgood that, the Indian eves won a historic bronze in the 2013 Junior World Cup in Monchenladbach, Germany.

The 47-year-old has been working with the New South Wales Institute of Sports in Australia over the past four years and has also worked with the Australian Under-21 men’s team as its head coach.

Thornton, who outsmarted Canada’s Mathias Ahrens and Fabian Gregory of South Africa for the coach job, is giving the ongoing FIH Hero Hockey World League Round 2 Event a miss as he needed adequate time to secure release from his present employers.

Rohit Sharma really needs to step it up!

Rohit played an air-fairy shot against Pakistan, which brought about his exit. He appeared to essay a premeditated shot when Sohail Khan’s delivery got big on him even as he tried to execute a pull shot on the front foot. Thankfully his opening partner Shikhar Dhawan blazed away against Pakistan, which eased India’s concerns at the top of the order.
It is so easy to paint a bright picture about the Indian team at the World Cup. After all, four wins and an unbeaten run will point to an ‘all is fine’ kind of feeling around the team. There is no doubt that the Mahendra Singh Dhoni-led side has exuded plenty of resilience after a poor tri-series outing – not many would have expected India to win all of their first four games – three of the opponents being the tougher opponents of the group.

Not to take away any credit from Dhoni’s men, but one has to say that there are areas that the Indian team should still like to address. Opener Rohit Sharma’s ‘up and down’ form will be a concern for India. Of course, he got an unbeaten half-century paving the winning chase against UAE, but otherwise hasn’t done much with the willow in the World Cup.
The Mumbai lad faltered against South Africa courtesy a daft run out after being caught out of his crease even as Dhawan nudged one to the covers. The fact that Shikhar Dhawan blasted a whirlwind hundred against South Africa ensured India did not feel the pinch of Rohit’s early dismissal there either.
The consistent lapses in concentration continued against West Indies – he played away from the body to a superb Jerome Taylor delivery which hit the good length area and swung away late. One hoped Rohit would take the opportunity from Shikhar’s miss on the day, but he flattered to deceive.

If one takes a close look at India’s batting unit, most of the other guys have been among the runs. Skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni overcame his lack of runs going into the World Cup with a convincing match-winning knock against West Indies.
Virat Kohli has been in fine fettle and so is Ajinkya Rahana, who essayed a sublime seventy-odd against South Africa. Even Suresh Raina, who has been under the scanner for his inability to fire on bouncy Australian strips, came into his own against Pakistan and seems to be well prepared to overcome whatever is thrown at him by opposition bowlers.

Skipper Dhoni may not have acknowledged that Rohit is a concern area for India, but he hasn’t needed to because the team is on a roll. It’s only in the crunch games in the knockout phases where such inconsistency from Rohit can cost his team dearly. From the Indian perspective, one hopes the opener rises up to the challenges in the upcoming few games and provides at least one meaningful contribution at the top of the order.

You just cannot write off the unpredictable Pakistanis!

This piece was published in Sportskeeda

Unpredictability has always been synonymous with the Pakistan cricket team over the years. On one day, they can be just brilliant and on another day they can be absolutely poor. The world cricket has learned to accept the unpredictable ways of the men in green. The Misbal-ul-Haq-led Pakistan side were pitted in a tough pool alongside the likes of defending champions India, South Africa and West Indies. Lack of consistent international exposure has hit Pakistan cricket hard over the years and with no foreign team touring Pakistan citing security concerns and opting to play in neutral venues like the UAE.

Pakistan team is far from having a ‘settled’ look with too much of chopping and changing happening on a regular basis. The team is bereft of quality of the team that won the 1992 World Cup and is probably banking on a few guys to do the job. Skipper Misbah and Shahid Afridi are now ageing and with no youngster really stamping their authority in the side, the going is always going to be stern for Pakistan. Given this backdrop, the Pakistan suffered a listless opening game defeat against arch-rivals India and later against West Indies, which put them under severe pressure. They were given a scare by Zimbabwe before romping home – their first win of the tournament. The win injected some dose of confidence in the side as they went on to pip the UAE and the best of all – stunning tournament favourites South Africa in
Auckland to literally assure their quarterfinal berth.

Although Pakistan’s fightback in the World Cup was crystal clear, the team haven’t shown signs that they are playing as a unit. Skipper Misbah has been in prime form with four half-centuries – most by any batter in the World Cup and if you take him out of the equation there is not much to write home about the Pakistan batting department. Ahmed Shehzad has looked good but hasn’t been able to get the big knocks, which would release the pressure on their middle-order. In fact, the opening slot has been a concern for Pakistan with southpaw Nasir Jamshed going through the horrors in the three games he played and was replaced by wicketkeeper Sarfaraz Ahmed, who scored a breezy 49 opening the innings against South Africa and later gobbled six catches to bag the Man of the Match award. Ukmar Akmal also hasn’t fired as the team management would have desired and hopefully being released from keeping duties (Sarfaraz kept wickets against South Africa) will allow him to focus more on his batting.

Pakistan fans will be happy with the resolve the team have shown in the last three games, but it will not be easy for their batting department going into the knockout phase as there is overreliance on Misbah to hold fort. Veteran Shahid Afridi has a key role to play – he can come with those lethal cameos as well as chip in with handy wickets with the ball.

It’s the Pakistan bowling which has really come off well. The seven-footer left-arm Mohammed Irfan has troubled all batsmen with his awkward bounce and movement and it is not surprising why batters are struggling to get on top of it. Another left-armer Wahab Riaz has also hit a purple patch with the ball and even with the bat, scoring his maiden ODI fifty. Rahat Ali also made an impression against South Africa in Auckland.

Maybe Pakistan’s batting can take a lesson or two from their bowlers – the way the likes of Irfan and Wahab have stood up to the challenges. We all know that Pakistan can be a dangerous side and upset the applecart of any side on their side. They seriously need to fix their batting unit and if they manage to do it, they would give all teams a run for their money.

BCCI must send out strong message to finger-wagging Virat Kohli

No cricketer is above the game. It really doesn’t matter how much of a presence the player enjoys in the side – so what if he is the captain or destined to be the ‘future captain’ in all formats. Quite clearly, India’s ace batsman Virat Kohli’s finger-wagging gesture at an Indian journalist in Perth during a nets session has raised more eyebrows than one would have expected initially.

There is a general feeling that Kohli will get away without any reprimand or punishment because of the sheer weight of the bulk of runs he has scored for India over the years. It is imperative for the BCCI to step in and serve out a message loud and clear that no individual is bigger than the game.

Of course, India has a crucial World Cup tie against West Indies and the board could see sense in not dwelling on this issue in the middle of the marquee event. The newly-elected BCCI President Jagmohan Dalmiya and BCCI secretary Anurag Thakur should not miss out on this opportunity to send out a strong message to the players, but they at the same time won’t want this issue to be a distraction for the players.

Kohli must apologize to aggrieved scribe

The choice of invectives hurled by Kohli at the Hindustan Times journalist was certainly uncalled for. The fact that Kohli’s outburst later panned out to be a case of mistaken identity cannot justify his act. Kohli was apparently livid with a scribe for a story written on him in a national daily. Just because the India’s batting mainstay apologized through another journalist once he realized that he was not the intended scribe, his act cannot be pardoned.
The focus is on the World Cup and no distractions should be encouraged, but the team management must talk to Kohli and ask him to restrain from such acts in future. The Indian Test skipper must tender an apology to the aggrieved journalist and that is the only way the issue can be given a ‘full stop.’

Lot to offer Indian cricket

One would expect the likes of coach Duncan Fletcher, team director Ravi Shastri and captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni to have a word with Kohli and offer some ‘anger management’ wisdom. There is nothing wrong in being belligerent but when one crosses the line of decency, that aggression does not remain one’s strong point.
Kohli is poised to be the Indian captain in all formats and it is important that he curbs his anger as he has a lot to offer to Indian cricket. In India, we tend to treat cricketers as demigods who can do no ‘wrong’ – what they say are God’s last words on earth. One hopes a few better words issue from Kohli in the near future.
It is crucial that the BCCI makes Kohli understand that the board will not refrain from any disciplinary action if such an act is repeated in future.

India must be wary of 'Gayle' factor

 
The cynics were at their best – lampooning the national team after a wretched performance in the tri-series involving Australia and England. And when the first two games of the World Cup were up against the likes of arch-rivals Pakistan and South Africa, there was no way that India, who were enduring a slump in form, could take it easy. Thoughts about starting slowly and gradually building intensity as the tournament wears on were out of the question as defeats against these teams would have put their quarterfinal hopes in peril.

Public perception can be strange – at the start of the marquee event we were talking about whether India are good enough to win the World Cup and come two resounding wins, the same set of people were pondering over who would be India’s quarterfinal opponents just after the team had only played two of their six group games. Many are billing India to go the distance this time around, even though cricket is a funny game and it hardly takes time for a hero to turn into a zero.

India and West Indies have had contrasting campaigns so far

Given this context, India’s match against West Indies is a must-win call for the men from the Caribbean, who have been erratic in the tournament. The Windies, after their stunning loss to Ireland, clobbered Zimbabwe on the back of Chris Gayle’s swashbuckling double ton – the first ever in the World Cup. The ‘Gayle’ factor is so pronounced that the West Indies are called ‘unpredictable’ largely because the southpaw can cut any reputed bowling attack to ribbons. Of course, it’s a different story when Gayle perishes cheaply.
All seems to be hunky-dory with the Indians so far. The batting department is looking solid – Virat Kohli is at his consistent best, while Shikhar Dhawan, Ajinkya Rahane and Suresh Raina are all among the runs. Rohit Sharma – probably the only one to press on the run meter, got among the runs against the UAE and the bowling unit looks neat and tidy.
The combination of Mohammad Shami, Mohit Sharma, Umesh Yadav and Ravichandran Ashwin has delivered so far and it remains to be seen if they can sustain it going forward.
All is going well for India, but let’s not dismiss the ‘Gayle’ factor. We have seen so many ‘Gayle Storms’ ravaging teams across the globe, the most recent victims being Zimbabwe. India cannot afford to be complacent just because their quarterfinal berth is almost assured as the team would like to go into the knockout phase with the right frame of mind. Neutralizing ‘Gayle Storm’ should be paramount on India’s mind.

I wanted to quit swimming after 2010 Asian Games: Virdhawal Khade

This piece was published in Sportskeeda

Virdhawal Khade is riding high after a commendable performance at the recently-held 35th National Games in Kerala. The 23-year-old Kolhapur lad emerged as the fastest swimmer of the event winning the 50 m freestyle event pushing Madhya Pradesh’s Aaron D’Souza to the second spot – an event the youngster has been winning since 2005. The Maharastra swimmer even set a new record, bettering his own record of 0:23.08 set in the 2011 National Games held in Jharkhand.
Virdhawal won two more gold medals in the men’s 50 m butterfly and men’s 4 X 200 m relay freestyle events, besides bagging silver medals in the men’s 100 m freestyle and men’s 4 X 100 m relay freestyle events for an impressive haul of 5 medals. The Indian ace, who trains at Bengaluru-based Dolphin Aquatics Center under coach Nihar Ameen, talks about his plans for the 2016 Rio Olympics and much more in an exclusive interview.

Excerpts:

Q. You won five medals including three gold medals at the recent 35th National Games in Kerala. How would you sum up your performance?

I was expecting to fare well in the National Games considering the kind of training I have put in over the past several months. Winning five medals – three gold medals – is indeed satisfying for me, and will stand me in good stead for the future.

Q. Do you think there is a need for more top-level swimming events like the National Games for Indian swimming to prosper?

Absolutely! We need to have more top-level swimming events especially for the seniors. Maybe 3-4 big meets annually will do a world of good to our swimmers. Sometimes we train hard and yet don’t know if everything is going the right way and where we actually stand, so it is important to have more top-notch swimming events like the National Games.

Q. Sajan Prakash had a splendid 35th National Games bagging a bucketful of medals. How do you assess him?
He is a talented youngster and is a good prospect for the future.

Q. There is a line of thinking that there is dearth of quality swimming coaches in India. Your thoughts.

It is true that we have paucity of good coaches. The country has only two good coaches in Nihar Ameen and Pradeep Kumar, both based in Bengaluru. The point is those swimmers who want to pursue swimming and are talented suffer due to lack of quality coaching and many of these swimmers may not have the wherewithal to come down to Bengaluru to train under Nihar Ameen or Pradeep Kumar.

Q. Non-cricket sports don’t quite attract the corporate houses. How do you manage all your training expenses?

Well, I work in the revenue department of the Maharashtra government and half of my expenses are met from my salary, while my dad chips in with the rest. I need to spend around eighty to ninety thousand per month on training, diet, etc. My dad has been a pillar of support for me all these years and I owe a lot to him.

Q. How difficult it is to stay motivated to pursue a sport like swimming?

Of course, it can be a challenge when you know no corporate houses are going to lend their assistance . I hope sponsors come forward to support swimming. I won bronze at the 2010 Asiad and was on a high, but soon felt dejected as I did not get enough recognition. I wanted to quit swimming, but my coach Nihar Ameen and my dad kept me going and today I’m swimming strongly thanks to their unstinted motivation.

Q. Where do you think Indian swimmers stand when you look at the world’s top swimmers?

Most of these top swimmers are genetically superior to us and they have a robust swimming culture – they have a strong swimming culture in place. I’m not saying we don’t have, but just that swimming needs to be encouraged more for India to really make it big on the world stage.

Q. The 2016 Rio Olympics is not far away. What plans you have up your sleeve?

I took a two-week break after the 35th National Games and now training hard. The Olympics qualifiers will be held in Russia in July, hopefully I will do well and seal an Olympic berth.

Q. How many years of swimming do you think you have in you?

I hope to keep swimming at the competitive level at least till the 2018 Asian Games and will take it from there.