The rape allegation towards defender Varun Kumar is a distraction for the boys’s hockey group and his absence from the FIH Pro League might be handled as an harm setback, India chief coach Craig Fulton stated on Friday.
Varun, an Arjuna award recipient, withdrew himself from the event after being accused of rape. He is exploring authorized choices to deal with the allegation, which he described as a “calculated attempt to extort money” from him.
India are scheduled to tackle Spain within the event opener on Saturday.
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“If you take it from outside and, of course, it’s a challenging situation but at the same time, you’ve got a level of professionalism and then from a start point of view we have to have our plans in place,” stated Fulton throughout a pre-event press convention.
“So, if you took it as an injury, someone now is injured. What would you do? What are the plans in place in the event of an injury? So, Varun is not here. What is the plan? There always is a plan for anyone who gets injured for a long time, striker, mid-field or defence.
“So we’re going on the level of professionalism we have in the group, the values that we hold. It’s a distraction, it’s challenging, it’s not great but we have to move forward, we have a plan in place on how we go,” the coach stated.
India skipper Harmanpreet Singh hoped that Varun would get a possibility to play in different tournaments later.
“He is in the list of 29 (probables). The coach has said it earlier that he will keep changing the team, so definitely he (Varun) can play also and he will be with us also,” stated Harmanpreet.
On whether or not somebody like former Indian cricket group psychological coach Paddy Upton would have turn out to be useful at this juncture, Fulton stated the group was ok to “stay to our task” and “uphold our values”.
Upton had helped the Indian males’s hockey group forward of the Asian Champions Trophy and the Asian Games.
“Unfortunately, Paddy is not here with this group. We had time with him in Cape Town. Now, it’s up to us to stay to our task and what we are trying to do as a team and uphold our values. We, really look forward to playing at home.”
The coach additionally stated the house stretch of the event was one of the best alternative to substantiate the squad for the Paris Olympics, particularly after the debacle within the five-nations event in Valencia, the place they received only one sport and misplaced three.
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The tour of South Africa in January too was a blended bag with India ending with two wins, a draw and a crushing 1-5 loss to world No.1 Netherlands.
On whether or not the Indian group was seeking to enhance in particular areas in a collection of eight Pro League matches at dwelling, Fulton stated, “It is kind of home stretch but it’s also about us confirming our Olympic squad.
“In Valencia, we didn’t have a training block beforehand because of the National Games and the National Championships, but SA (tour) was definitely in the right direction,” stated Fulton.
He added that the Pro League matches in Bhubaneswar and Rourkela towards Spain, Netherlands, Australia and Ireland will permit him to evaluate everybody.
“We are trying to give everyone an opportunity in both competitions and then confirm our Olympic squad. That’s an important phase for us now. Then obviously to keep developing our game, and our combinations within that.
He said that there could be losses and disappointments along the way but he would be looking at consistency and team effort while confirming the Olympic squad.
“We want to be as close to performing as we can in every game and that’s not always going to be the case. So, it’s time to confirm our squad and at the same time get some performances together and get some consistency,” he stated.
Harman too stated the final set of dwelling matches had been essential for choosing the Olympic squad.
“These are the last series of matches in India ahead of the Olympics. So, this is a good chance for us to try and improve further. We play some good matches here, so we have to see how we utilise this opportunity and how to prepare for the Olympic Games,” stated the previous drag-flicker.
(This story has not been edited by News18 employees and is revealed from a syndicated news company feed – PTI)
Source: www.news18.com
