"Why shouldn't we go for foreign coaches? Though we have tried manyIndian coaches, they've not been that successful," said the 60-year old AjitPal, who led the nation to its only World Cup title at Kuala Lumpur in 1975.
However, the master of the game was opposed to importing coaches fromcountries like the Netherlands or Germany.
"Bringing coaches from these countries won't help, because of thelanguage barrier. We should go for Australian coaches. They speak English. Soit's easier for our players to communicate with them," Ajit Pal, one of thefinest centre halfs India has ever produced, said in an interview.
Ajit Pal, a key member in the hockey teams of 1971, '72 and '73, said the high-profile PHL provided good entertainment, but it was hamstrung bythe lack of competitive edge.
"The teams are mixed. A team may have some players from Orissa, somefrom another state. So, the competitive spirit is missing. Players don't feelmotivated enough," he said.
Ajit Pal was also critical of the way the Indian Hockey Federation wasrunning the game.
"You cannot get good results with people who may have done well in otherfields," said the hockey legend, in an indirect reference to IHF presidentK P S Gill.
Critical of the Gill-Jothikumaran (current IHF secretary) regime, the ArjunaAwardee said except for a couple of trophies like the 1998 Asian Games gold and theJunior World Cup title, the nation had not achieved much success under them.
"Where are we in Champions Trophy, the Olympics or the World Cup? Weonly have won the Azlan Shah tournament. Nowadays, we even have troublequalifying for the Olympics."
Ajit Pal, who represented India in 1960s and 70's and was known for his finesense of distribution, dexterity and skill on the field, alleged that the gamewas not being marketed properly.
"To develop hockey, you need full-time professionals in charge ofmatters like marketing."
He also rapped the IHF for not utilising the services of former stars. But hehastened to add "Or may be, they (former internationals) don't havetime".
However, he parried a query on how the current national coach JoacquimCarvalho was faring. "He must be doing his job. I Hope we can qualify forthe Olympics. I wish him well," he said, in a diplomatic response.
Ajit Pal also rued the inadequate number of astro-turfs in the country.
"Small European countries have astro-turfs in every district. But in ourcountry, sufficient numbers (of the artificial surface) are not there. England hasastro-turfs even in schools. But in India, players get astro-turf only when theyplay in national level tournaments," he said.
PTI
