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| SPORTS TRIBUNE | Saturday, March 31, 2001, Chandigarh, India |
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Tejinder shines in Ranji Trophy Indian athletes not ready for top class contests |
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Much to reflect in hockey victory The astonishing performance of the Indian cricketers in the series against Australia has dimmed all other sports achievements in recent weeks. So much so that one almost forgot that Indian hockey also merited some attention and that even while the third Test in Chennai was heading for a sensational finish, India had won the Prime Minister’s Gold Cup Hockey Tournament in Dhaka. And it had won at the expense of Pakistan which still remains one of the top teams of the world and was one of the semi-finalists in the Sydney Olympics. But more than the victory it was the manner in which it was achieved with the team finally playing to its potential and showing very little “nerves” despite the occasion and the classy opposition. It was a good thing that Pakistan was able to make the trip. There had been some questions about its participation after the diplomatic row with Bangladesh but wiser counsel prevailed in the end and the team made the title match of the tournament against India a worthy Cup final. Indeed any match between the teams of the sub-continent, including the emotive appeal and the tenseness which goes with it, is bound to be good if the players are given a free handle. To quite an extent the final produced some fine hockey. What the verdict means for India in its search for regaining its identity and lost glory is anybody’s guess. India has to play in the World Cup qualifier in Edinburgh in July and till then the team has very little of competitive hockey to prove itself. The IHF has reportedly tied up with New Zealand for a four-test series on the way to the qualifier and is trying to get an Australian team for a four-match series. The last time India went to Australia for a double-leg affair, it did well to win the second leg and boost its moral. It would have been of course an ever more worthy venture if India had been able to visit some of the European countries before the qualifier in Edinburgh. Apart from acclimatising to identical conditions, matches with Holland and Germany and even England would have helped considerably. But now that can be done after the Azlan Shah Tournament in Kuala Lumpur and if the teams are free and agreeable . Coach Cedric D’Souza must be a happy man with the outcome in Dhaka. The performance of the team here showed that some of the gaps found during the home series against Germany had been effectively filled. And while the older lot acquitted themselves in a fair manner, the younger players, some of them from the junior team, coordinated with the tried and trusted lot in creditable fashion. While the onus upfront again remained on Dhanraj Pillay, reports of mature performance from others too showed that India can finally build up an attacking front as effective as Pakistan. But as far as the reports went the defence and the half line again did well. A lot of work, however, needs to be done and one hopes that by the year-end Indian hockey would once again be able to stand up and be counted among the top countries of the hockey world. For all the fine showing in the title match the team did have its problems in the earlier outings. Bangladesh restricted India to a 2-1 margin in a match where the team just did not seem to settle down. It may surprise the followers of the game but this was a match which India could have even lost despite forcing 11 penalty corners. But after that match India proceeded to improve and but for a 3-1 tightly-fought battle with Japan, the team progressed through without much of a hitch. It would have been a fitting climax if the final had been decided in the regulation period. A decision by the tie-breaker is never an indication of the true merit of the match. But a victory even by this means is still counted as a victory and that is all that matters. The tournament was an eye-opener in many ways. If the Sydney Olympics saw a very visible Asia in the hockey contest, the Prime Minister’s Gold Cup Tournament in Dhaka was witness to a rare surge in the overall standard of the game in the continent. No longer is hockey a preserve of India, Pakistan and now South Korea. Malaysia did not have a good tournament in Dhaka but then it fielded a newlook combination that should mature to deliver the goods in the next two to three years. One must remember that Malaysia’s coach is none other than the famous Paul Lissek. Bangladesh is another emerging hockey power. Dwarfed till now by the teams from the sub-continent, it has made some tremendous efforts to make headway in the game. For one, it has attracted the services of York Schumacher of Germany. He has been given four years to mould the team into a top-notch combination. Bangladesh, it must be remembered finished fifth in the Asian Cup last year, a leap by five place from the tenth place which it secured in the Asian Games. And it does not have a synthetic turf yet. For all the handicaps it did not do too badly in the Dhaka tournament. Apart from running India close, it had to its credit a one-one draw with Japan and a 8-7 win over China in a match decided by the tie-breaker. The teams had drawn one-all at the end of regulation period. The other teams closing the gap are Japan, once the only country after India, Pakistan and Malaysia, to play serious hockey in Asia, and Egypt which had taken to hockey in an amazingly short period and has recorded some great wins, including if one remembers, one over India. In this tournament, however, India outclassed Egypt, winning by eight goals to nothing. Despite this drubbing Egypt did move into the semi-finals and lost the third place match to China on the last day. China also served notice with some fine displays, including a tight 0-3 match against Pakistan. The tournament in Dhaka proved that hockey is being taken seriously by countries in Asia and that future tournaments in the continent would all be well contested affairs. India, Pakistan and for that matter South Korea, can no longer take things for granted. It is a pity that South Korea was not among the teams participating in the tournament in Dhaka. |
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Tejinder shines in Ranji Trophy Twenty-three-years-old, left-arm spinner Tejinder Singh made the most of the opportunity as he had a rich haul of 11 wickets against Vidharbha while representing Railways in the Central Zone Ranji Trophy this year. It all happened as Murali Kartik, another Railways Ranji player was called for national duty in Tests against Zimbabwe. Tejinder Singh who was playing only his second match for Railways and first of the season, helped himself to give wickets for 37 runs in first innings as Vidharbha crashed from a comfortable 73 for three to a miserable 79 for nine in the space of 12 overs. In the second innings Vidarbha required 112 runs on the final day with six wickets in hand to avoid an innings defeat. Tejinder produced yet another magic spell to claim five out of the six wickets to post an innings victory in just under two hours. Born on January 16, 1978, at Amritsar, Tejinder learnt the basics of the game under Coach Prakash Chand at Baij Nath School. He took to the higher level at DAV College, the Mecca of cricket in the city, where he practiced under the watchful eyes of his coach Joginder Singh Lodhi. According to Tejinder it was his coach who worked on his rough edges and taught him the finer points of the game. His fine performance at the college level earned him a place in the inter-district Katoch Shield where he produced many brilliant bowling spells and contributed with the bat as well. Known for his agile fielding, he formed a brilliant pair with off spinner Sarandeep Singh (who later represented India in Tests). Both of them bowled well in tandem to fetch many a victory for Amritsar. It was Tejinder’s stint at the Inter-university level that brought him laurels. In the year 1996-97 while representing North Zone in inter-varisty at Meerut he had an all-round performance (54 and three for 27) against Delhi University in the semifinal and (52 and two for 41) against CCS University, Meerut, to win the final. In the next year, 1997-98, while representing GND University, Amritsar, in the all-India inter-varisty tournament at the Rohanton Baria Trophy at Varanasi he claimed six for 47 against Mumbai University and then scored an unbeaten 66 against Ranchi University in semifinal to take his team to the final. It was during this match that he showed his prowess with the bat to score 111 runs while batting at No 9. Chasing a target of 318 for victory GND university were restricted to 200 for seven when Tejinder stepped in at the crease. He had a partnership of 108 runs with No 10 batsman Ritesh Mehra out of which Tejinder scored 89. He was later awarded the man of the series award by none other than his mentor Bishen Singh Bedi. In June 1998 the Punjab Cricket Association organised an off-season summer coaching camp under former Indian Test cricketer Balwinder Singh Sandhu at the PCA Stadium, Mohali, in which Tejinder also participated. In the same year he was named the best bowler in the J.P. Atray Memorial Cricket Tournament. It was in this tournament that he caught the eye of Punjab skipper Vikram Rathore. Tejinder was a member of the Punjab state Ranji team during the year 1998-99 and 1999-2000 and also participated in the Wills Trophy in tournament in January 2000. He got a couple of wickets against Jammu and Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh but Navdeep Singh, another left-arm spinner, was also bowling stupendously so Tejinder was made to cool his heels outside in the pavilion. It was at this stage that fast bowler Harvinder Singh, who had represented India and is now employed with Railways, recommended the name of Tejinder. In April 2000 Tejinder represented the Railways team in the Sheesh Mahal tournament at Kanpur. In the semifinal against Sahara India which had top Indian Test cricketers Nayan Mongia, Ajay Jadeja, Sunil Joshi, H. Kanitkar, H. Badani, Ashish Kapoor, Mohanty and Kumaran, Tejinder claimed two wickets for just three runs. His performance did not go un-noticed and he was immediately made to play Ranji Trophy matches against Bihar and Vidharbha where he gave outstanding performance to carve a niche for himself. Playing in the one-dayers he took four wickets against Madhya Pradesh and scored 34 as a pinchhitter against Rajasthan and also bowled superbly to return with figures of 10-2-23-2 including the prized wicket of Test player Gagan Khoda. Tejinder owes his success to the hard work he puts in, practising over seven hours a day. He also has a high word of praise for his father Sujan Singh and his cricketer friends Harvinder, Manbeer, and Shammi Kapoor who guided him in his earlier days. |
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Indian athletes not ready for top class contests Octogenarian superstar athlete of yesteryears Colonel Niranjan Singh, who has maintained physical fitness par excellence, speaks to this writer on various aspects of track and field, past and present, and shows concern about our declining standards. (Excerpts from the interview:) Q. What was the national athletic scenario like during your time in terms of infrastructure and other facilities? A. We had a few grounds for training in Lahore, but there were no stadia. The one and only stadium in Lahore was the Railway Stadium, and that too without bathrooms and change-rooms. The Lahore University had good playing facilities, but outsiders had no access to it. The Sikh National College in Lahore promoted sporting activities but it had no track for athletics. However, the Principal of Government College, Lahore, was a kind person and he allowed us to train in his college. Q. Today, our sportspersons are getting all possible facilities from the Sports Authority of India and thanks to the magnanimity of the central government like, free board and lodging, free training kit, free competition kit, travel expenses, foreign exposure, foreign coaches/experts, scientific back up, free medical facilities, costly sports equipment, excellent infrastructure facilities, free food supplements, and, at times, extra diet in certain cases, and what not — yet, our standard in sports is hardly showing an upward trend when compared to other countries. What in your opinion could be the root cause and how to stem the rot? A. Of course, the Sports Authority of India is indeed doing a lot for today’s sportspersons and if they cannot deliver the goods then there is drastically something wrong somewhere. During our time, the concept of nutritious diet did not exist. Our diet was as normal as that of the common man. Since I was training to my full potential, I used to have an extra egg, a glass of milk and 10 almonds at breakfast and a glass of milk after training in the evening, and mind you, it was all from my pocket. We laid much emphasis on training. Training was our passion and we enjoyed training. Today, as I understand, our athletes do not train with passion and the competitions are getting tougher and tougher. Moreover, the coaching camps for long spells are making the training monotonous. The national coaching camps should not be of more than four weeks duration at a time. Q. In your view, how much updated our national athletic coaches are to supervise the training of our athletes for international competitions? A. Every coach should set an example to others by showing exemplary behaviour and character. A coach should either demonstrate or should have an assistant who should demonstrate the style, the technique, the skill. A coach should be a good psychologist and motivator. A coach must keep himself/herself abreast of the latest trends in sports to keep pace with the advancing world. Q. What are the athletic events in which you think the Indian athletes can excel in international competitions? A. Both men and women athletes in the country can excel, provided they work very hard and with dedication, in 400M, 800M, 1500M and 10,000M. This apart, our men and women athletes can also do well in high jump and long jump in international competitions. In throws, the Indian athletes are the poorest. In shot put only, the men athletes can do well in international meets. There are pockets in the country from where talented athletes can be picked for training in specified events. For example, in Nagaland, there are sportspersons who can be trained in javelin since they have beautiful calf muscles. I was in Nagaland for six years and it is only through observation that I am drawing such conclusions. Q. There is hardly any athletics in our universities. What, in your view, the government should do to motivate the university authorities to promote sports in a big way in their respective universities? A. Sports should be made compulsory in every state. The Centre should force the states to make sports a compulsory subject in the schools, colleges and universities. Our universities must be having a lot of potential which remains untapped perhaps. We must develop our university sports; only then we will have abundant sportspersons from whom we can produce international champions. In the past, there was so much of sporting activity in our universities, but today there is more of political activity than sporting activity and this is pretty disturbing. Q. How do you look at the future of Indian athletics? A. We are not ripe for advanced training and top class competition. First we caught to improve our general standards. At present, we are laying stress on bookish knowledge. We must not expose our sportspersons in international competitions unless we come up to certain standards. The Russians and Chinese refused to participate in the Olympics for long years, because they were not sure of putting up credible performances. |
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Harbhajan, Laxman steal the show The miraculous 2-0 win of India over Australia in the Test series established the belief that anything can be expected in cricket. India went down in the first match and unexpectedly won the second creating history. Truly speaking, the third one was the result of morale boosting of Indian players. The second Test match proved to be a boon for India as the Australians had to remain in the field for a very long time. The fact remains that this series will be remembered for a long time due to several ups and downs. The Indian cricket team deserves all praise for the outstanding achievement. The superb performance of VVS Laxman, Dravid and Harbhajan Singh will be the talking point during any discussion on this historic series. NIRMAL SINGH II India’s 2-1 victory over Australia in the current Test series is heartening. Without causing a Lele-type flutter it can be said that both the teams were almost equal. The important thing is that Rahul Dravid, technically a great batsman, is back to form. VVS Laxman established himself as a world class batsman with Saurav and Tendulkar. The find of the series is Harbhajan Singh. This young Punjab lad is going to stay for a long time. Who knows, he may be the second bowler to reach the 500-wicket mark! Along with Anil Kumble he is going to form a deadly combination in the times to come. With Sachin Tendulkar they defeated loudmouthed Steve Waugh’s Australia. The cricketing world will always admire this feat. SUBHASH BARU III Favourites India deserve all praise for hitting the jackpot at Chidambaram Stadium. The Indian tigers overshadowed the Ausralians in all departments of the game despite the presence of Steve Waugh, McGrath and Hayden. It was the series of Harbhajan and the modest Hyderabadi, Laxman. Congratulations to the Indian tigers for their sensational win in the final Test. SHEKHAR BHORAL |
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