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Dubai: "India has not fielded their best players in the ongoing Olympic qualifiers in Santiago," says former Indian hockey coach Gerhard Rach.
Rach was the coach of the Indian team when India last played in the Olympics at Athens.
"Top players like Adrian D'Souza, Vikram Pillay, Arjun Halappa, V.S. Vinaya and Sandeep Singh are not in the team. Most of these players have problems with the present coach Joaquim Carvalho," added Rach.
Inexperienced
India will have to beat Great Britain today in the final of the qualifier to preserve their record of having played in every Olympic Games since 1928.
"If India and Pakistan do not qualify it will be a big blow for world hockey. They have given Carvalho a free hand and he has fired all the world class players from the team. It is a high risk. We failed in Athens when I was the coach because they presented me with a young bunch and a few inexperienced players," said Rach.
"Yet, during my term India beat Germany, which two years later went on to become the world champions. India now have slipped to the 11th position. So everyone can assess what coaching they have got after I quit," said Rach, who has now plans to set up a hockey academy in Dubai with Raza Abidi, the coordinator of the UAE Hockey Committee.
Rach regrets having quit as India coach. "I quit because I reacted like a German. During the last four years I have learned a lot. If I am given the post again I will react like an Indian. I have won back the friendship of IHF president KPS Gill and Secretary Jyotikumaran. I even took 32 top Indian players to play in the German league," he said.
According to Rach India play well only against Asian teams. "They do well against Asian teams but not against Europeans and Australians. Fifty per cent of the team including Dhanraj Pillay cannot cope with the aggressive style of play."
"India celebrate beating Russia 8-0 and Sri Lanka 20-0. They need to beat the strong teams," he concluded.
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