Sardar Singh: CWG snub shocked me

Sardar Singh is always the last man to leave a training ground. Long after his teammates have exited the SAI South Centre facility in Bengaluru, the veteran midfielder continues to toil. A charge down the centre, a back pass to no one, a stretch, a lunge. Occasionally he looks up, a flicker of a smile on his weather-beaten face. The fading light is probably a reminder of some four months ago, March 13t to be precise.
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The former skipper, in and out of the team for almost six months, was dropped from the 18-man side for the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games.Sardar headed home to Sirsa, in Haryana, contemplating an end he wasn't ready for. A change of coaches - Harendra Singh taking over from Sjoerd Marijne after the Commonwealth Games - gave the spirited midfielder a fresh lease of life. After a strong showing in the Champions Trophy in June, Sardar is looking to make the most of his second innings at the upcoming Asian Games (Indonesia, August 18 to September 2) and the Bhubaneswar World Cup in November.
Excerpts:
How has 2018 panned out for you?
I've seen a lot of ups and downs this year. We all know 2018 is a very important year for Indian hockey with the four-year cycle culminating in the Commonwealth Games, Asian Games and World Cup. There's also an Olympic berth at stake, which we can seal with a gold medal at the Asian Games. Every athlete who goes to these events waits for four years for this. I waited too. These are not tournaments which you miss and say, 'Ok, I'll get there next year'. There are more chances you won't be around four years from now than a year later. So, through this cycle I planned and prepared accordingly.
It didn't quite go to plan for you, since you didn't make the team for the Commonwealth Games…
After we won the Asia Cup in October last year, the then chief coach (Sjoerd Marijne) told me he wanted to try as many players as possible from the 42-player core group. After that I was dropped for two-three tours, including the away series in New Zealand and Netherlands. I didn't read too much into it as I thought he was trying out youngsters. But when I was made to lead a young team at the Sultan Azlan Shah tournament (in April), I had a feeling that something was amiss. But when it comes to this sport, I don't have too many doubts because hockey has given me everything and it is my duty to do whatever is expected of me. If I'm asked to captain a young and inexperienced side, I'm dutybound to do it. I just wanted to play good hockey. On our return from Malaysia when the team for the Gold Coast was announced, I expected to make the squad. I wasn't even among the standbyes. I was shocked.
What was your initial reaction to being dropped?
They didn't give us an option, barring the CWG-bound players and the standbyes, the rest of us were asked to go home.
The turnaround...
Harendra sir taking over as chief coach made all the difference. He has coached and seen me since my junior India days, starting with the 2002-03 season. He knows my strengths and weaknesses. In the first meeting after he took over, he gave me a lot of positive vibes and that motivated me to push to be better. People often say Indian coaches are not the best, we want to change that.