He is the magician of Indian Hockey who became one of the best attackers in the world during 1990s. Having come from a humble background, he rose to become the Captain of the Indian Men’s Hockey Team. Decorated with many awards including the prestigious Padma Shri, Arjuna Award and Major Dhyanchand Khel Ratna Award,  the legendary hockey player Dhanraj Pillay has been nurturing talented youngsters through his Academy in Bengaluru, not only in hockey but also in other sports. Star of Mysore caught up with the icon this morning during his visit to Mysuru to attend ‘Prajna Parva,’ annual conference of Rotary District 3181. Excerpts…

By S.N. Venkatnag Sobers

Star  of Mysore (SOM): Firstly, welcome to Mysuru. With Indian Men’s hockey team doing well in the recent years, what is your opinion about the women’s team failing to qualify for Summer Olympics 2024?

Dhanraj Pillay: It is very disappointing to see our girls not qualifying for this year’s Olympics. I think this will have a great impact on the entire team and the management. According to me, the team management has failed to utilise senior players to their potential which has resulted in women’s team not qualifying for summer Olympics. There are many senior players like Rani Rampal who have performed exceptionally well in the domestic tournaments. Unfortunately, such players are not a part of national squad.

SOM: What do you think is the reason behind the poor show of Indian Women’s team?

Dhanraj Pillay: Somewhere, I believe there are groups within the team, which is not the case with men’s side. The women’s team seem to have a lot of problems including the coach averse to senior players to be a part of the national team. As long as the player is performing well, he/she has to be in the national camp.

SOM: Now, priority is given to foreign coaches. Aren’t there quality coaches available in our country?

Dhanraj Pillay: I strongly recommend that Indian coaches are required to be a part of the team. Depending on the foreign coaches will not help the team for the reason being that the majority of the players in the team are from rural background and are not comfortable in English. The players cannot understand what the coach is saying and vice-versa. In fact, the men’s team had a bad experience with the then German coach who was not comfortable with English either. With our men unable to understand the  instructions of coach, an interpreter had to be called in. We do not want such situation in our teams. The coach should be able to bring out the true potential of players and only Indian coach can do that.

SOM: In India, cricket has become a religion but hockey, being the National Sport, has failed to have a larger impact. What do you think might be the reason?

Dhanraj Pillay: It would be wrong to compare cricket with hockey. Hockey India (HI) has to take initiatives to popularise the game at the grassroots level. They have to ensure that there are academies established in every district to train young players and provide good opportunities to nurture their talents. Unfortunately, there are no academies in South India as a result of which players from this part of the country are not a part of the national team anymore. Earlier, the Indian men’s team had great players from Karnataka including Len Aiyappa, Ashish Ballal, Arjun Halappa, V.R. Ragunath, S.V. Sunil, Nikkin Thimmaiah, S.K. Uthappa among others who have played for the country. .

SOM: Tell us about your sports academy in Bengaluru?

Dhanraj Pillay: It is a multi-disciplinary sports academy and our aim is to ensure 5-6 players are selected to national camp. Not only hockey, we want youngsters to represent the country in squash, badminton, swimming among other sports. The academy is  being mentored by legendary players like Arjun Halappa, Gopichand, Sharath Kamal, Saurav Ghosal and other players.

SOM: How do you see the changes in sports when compared to previous years?

Dhanraj Pillay: There are a lot of changes being witnessed in sports in the past decade. The Central Government has been encouraging sports. PM Narendra Modi organising special receptions for teams and sports persons to celebrate achievements has to be appreciated.

SOM: You had been to Kodagu to watch the Family Cup Hockey Tournament. Your Opinion?

Dhanraj Pillay: The tournament is great to watch. Last time when I visited Kodagu, I watched a couple of matches during which I found at least four players with a potential to be a part of the national camp. Unfortunately, there are no representatives from Hockey India or from the State Associations to identify such players who could do wonders for the national team. Hockey India should also ensure that local leagues are organised to identify players. In the present scenario, Hockey India is not letting players in the national camp to play for local leagues, which I think should be addressed. Adding on, Hockey India should also work towards reviving the Hockey India League which has been shelved since 2017. I personally believe that sports federations across the country must have leaders like former BCCI President late Jagmohan Dalmiya who did wonders for cricket.