No climb down, no ego: Baskaran

Bangalore: In Indian sport, rarely do we get to see people set egos aside and be willing to work for the good of the game. Olympic gold medalist and former Indian chief coach V Baskaran, has set the ball rolling in that direction after assuming charge as coach of the Indian hockey team this week.

For a man who occupied the top job served as coach of the national side for six years to opt to work under current chief coach Terry Walsh, it may resemble a climb down, but the 63-year-old thinks otherwise.

“After my playing days my passion was always coaching and after being out of the national side coach for almost nine years, I felt I still have a lot to contribute to the sport. Hence I approached Hockey India and told them I'm willing to work with Terry Walsh,“ said Baskaran to this newspaper.

“It may be perceived as a climb down by others, but not by me. Egos have often popped up in our sport and hampered its growth. But, personally I've set my ego aside and put my best foot forward to work for Indian hockey .“

Baskaran, who coached the Bhopal Badshahs in the now defunct World Series Hockey, also has another Olympian and former team-mate M. Kaushik for company in the coaches' panel.

Baskaran, who last took charge of the Indian side at the 2006 World Cup in Germany, where India finished a poor 11th, believes his personal rapport with Walsh will help the team. “Walsh and I go a long way . We have known each other from our playing days, and when I coached India at the 2000 Olympics, he was there as a coach too. I've already interacted with him and I'm happy to be working with him.“

Baskaran, who joined up with the team on Monday , knows the coaches have their task cut out, after the national side managed a back door passage for the 2014 World Cup. After failing to get a direct entry , they made the cut by virtue of Australia winning their regional competition.

Dwelling on the team, the Chennai-based former defender said, “We have a lot of work to do with the team, consistency, being one of the issues. The team is playing well, but there are grey areas which need to be worked on. After the Junior World Cup later this year, more coaches in specialised areas will join the team.“

As a parting shot, he emphasised on his role and that of Walsh, saying, “I'm here to try and help Walsh, but I won't go beyond his thinking."