By IANS,
New Delhi: India’s national hockey coach Harendra Singh insisted that there was no division within the team on the captaincy issue and if any player had any problem he should talk to Hockey India (HI).
Harendra said he has spoken to both skipper Rajpal Singh and Prabhjot Singh, who was coach Jose Brasa’s preferred choice as captaincy, and told them that the issue is a closed chapter and they should work in the interest of the team.
“I spoke to both Rajpal and Prabhjot and tried to tell them that captaincy should not be an issue. A great player like Sachin Tendulkar is playing under Mahendra Singh Dhoni. I reminded them that a player of the calibre of Dhanraj Pillay could never lead the side in any of the four Olympics he played in,” Harendra said.
“To be frank, both Prabhjot and Rajpal could be right in their own positions, but these things are decided by the federation, the selectors and the coaches and should be left at that. If Prabhjot or any player still has a problems, he could talk it out with HI.”
Harendra said these issues are not going to affect the team preparation.
“Let me tell you that these matters will not affect the performance of the team. The team is not divided. When the team is on the field, it is united. So let us not rake these controversial issues when the players are focussing on the job,” he said.
As far as HI is concerned the captaincy chapter is closed.
“No player has come to us with any reservations on the choice of captain. For us it is a closed chapter,” said HI media advisor Anupam Ghulati.