We Need to Keep Pushing for Bigger Results

“I believe the seniors must give a chance to the juniors. THIS IS THE RIGHT TIME. It is always important to think positively about the team. Hockey being a team game we must think of the team’s progress and future,” says V. Raghunath in a chat with NANDAKUMAR MARAR.

- Nandakumar Marar

India’s hockey coach Roelant Oltmans drafted a number of players from the junior World Cup-winning squad into the senior men’s probables for the national camp. V. Raghunath, one of the senior India players was left out of the probables list, but according to the 28-year-old full back and drag-flick specialist from Karnataka, he has opted for a break after more than a decade.

Raghunath agrees with the decision to expose talented juniors to competition, keeping in mind the next Olympic cycle.

Speaking to Sportstar, the player from Indian Oil Corporation also says that hockey now offers financial security to the players.

Excerpts:

Question:

A number of players from the junior World Cup-winning team figuring in the list of senior men’s probables for the national camp is positive news for Indian hockey. Does this move indicate the chief coach’s long-term plan for the juniors?

Answer: It is very important to focus on the next Olympic year and plan accordingly. When the juniors have performed so well by winning the World Cup, it’s important for them to get into the senior squad and gain as much exposure as possible, early in the new Olympic cycle. In this way, they can gain enough match practice and develop into better players ahead of bigger tournaments in 2018 and 2020. Inducting as many as 11 juniors into the list of probables is a very good initiative and a much-needed move.

You are supposed to have taken a break from international hockey. Can we have your side of the story—on your name missing from the probables list? Was Roelant Oltmans in the loop about the decision?