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If things go right we should be there in the final: Gill

Onkar Singh in Delhi

A 20-member Indian hockey team will leave for Australia on Thursday morning by an Air India flight, to prepare for the forthcoming Sydney Olympics, Indian Hockey Federation president K P S Gill told rediff.com on Wednesday.

“The team was undergoing intensive training at Bangalore but because of the developments that followed after the kidnapping of Dr Raj Kumar, icon of Kannada films, we had to shift the camp from Bangalore to Delhi. The team has been shaping up well. We are sending a 20-member team to Australia on August 17, that is tomorrow. We have time till August 31 to select the final 16,” said Gill.

Gill said he is taking the unusual step of sending four extra players, instead of just 16, because he wants to ensure that there is total commitment till the team is named.

“I know the element of the last minute surprise will ensure that each player who is being sent gives a hundred per cent. Nobody would like to return home without playing for the Indian team. Hence the competition would be tough. I will reach Australia before the final selection is done and the team for the Olympics is announced.

"Both Bhaskaran, the coach, and captain Ramandeep Singh are satisfied with the performance of the boys and if things go right we should be there in the final,” said the former super cop.

He denied that there is any rift amongst the senior players particularly after the reinduction of those who were dropped from the squad after the Asian Games.

"The senior players might have come back but only after they learnt their lessons,” he declared.

Asked if the Indian hockey team will play against Pakistan or walk out should they meet, Gill said he did not see that possibility arise since both teams are placed in different groups.

“The Olympic Games do not allow any walk-outs. The Olympic Games have no room for politics. I think we have no choice but to play. Let us see what happens should India and Pakistan meet either in semi-finals or final. We will cross the bridge when we come to it,” Gill said.

But Minister of Sports Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa has said that India and Pakistan should not play any game till Pakistan stops aiding terrorists in Jammu and Kashmir?

“I aware of the directive given by the minister. In the group stage we are not playing against Pakistan. But if the government gives a specific directive we will follow it in letter and spirit,” Gill said.

Why is the team is being sent so early for practice?

“If I had sent team a bit late then you would have asked me why the team was not sent earlier. We are sending the team early because the kind of surface that we are going to play on is not available in India. Secondly, it will help the team acclimatise to Australian weather conditions. We are now barely four weeks away from the Games. No team that is participating in a tournament of this level should burn out itself before the final is over.

"The tennis players play throughout the year and continue to maintain their peak form from one tournament to another. I see no reason why teams should not be able to peak at the right time or maintain their top form for sometime at least,” Gill wondered.

He denied that only those who carry favour with the IHF president would be inducted in the final 16. “The Indian Hockey Federation president has no role in the final selection of the team. I as the president of the IHF will not say play this boy or drop that one. Only those who deserve to be there will be selected. No passenger will be allowed to stay with the Indian hockey team in the Olympic village merely because he knows someone,” Gill made it clear.