Twenty games on blue turf sufficient before London Olympics: Khandker

By Paritosh Pramanik
NAGPUR, May 10

INDIAN coach Michael Nobbs and Australian Ric Charlesworth might have criticised the ‘Blue Monster’ turf at London Test Event but Indian striker Tushar Khandker finds no evil in the blue-pink rectangle on which hockey matches would be played during Olympics.
The Indian forward felt that 15-20 games on blue turf would be enough for India to get used to it.
After SV Sunil, Khandker too gave the new turf a thumbs up.
“It was a good experience. We played for the first time on the blue turf. Unfortunately we couldn’t win any game but we played really well. The way we performed in qualifiers, we played the same way at the London test event. The result was not in our favour but the performance was good,” said Khandker while talking exclusively to ‘The Hitavada’ from Bhopal.
Khandker said the team had no difficulty in sighting the yellow ball on blue turf but added that the turf was a bit slippery.
“Frankly speaking, there was no problem in sighting the ball as such but yes the new turf was a bit slippery. The turf was new and hence it was a bit slow and had a little bounce too. But that’s how any new turf behaves,” he said.
The Indian forward admitted that there was an issue with the turf regarding the ball moving fast on one side and getting slow while moving on the opposite.
“That problem was there. I don’t know the technical part of how the turf was laid but yes the ball used to move fast at some area. We had to hit the ball with a bit of more power so that it reaches the player in proper time. That was the only problem.”
India would be playing around 15 games on the blue turf before Olympic begins in July end and Khandker feels that it would be enough to prepare for the quadrennial event. India would be playing seven games at Sultan Azlan Shah Tournament then will travel to France for a six-match Test series and then will play two matches with Spain. All the matches would be played on blue turf.
“Why leave the four matches we played at London Test event. I think 20-odd matches would be sufficient. Above all we would be playing against top countries. That would be of great help. It’s not that we will be playing against lowly-ranked team.
“At Sultan Azlan Shah we would be playing Great Britain, Korea, Argentina, New Zealand and Pakistan. Then we will be going to play France and Spain. They all are top teams and it would be a good preparation for us. Twenty games against top teams would be good enough I think. Then we will be practising on the blue turf,” said Khandker.
The Indian forward doesn’t want to buy the theory that India should have played more games on the blue turf. “That’s not my concern. It’s not in my hand and I don’t have a choice. My job is to play for the country, give 100 per cent whatever the colour of the pitch,” asserted Khandker.
India failed to earn much short corners during the London Test event and the two time world cupper admitted that it was an area of concern.
“Yes, we forwards failed to earn much short corners for Sandeep (Singh) and Raghunath but in the coming tournaments we would work hard and try to give more opportunities to our drag flickers. We will work hard and wipe out this problem,” concluded Khandker.