The Golden Boot

Triumph and Trauma of a Coach
M. K. Kaushik with K. Arumugam

Page 1 Page 2 Page 3 Binder
Binder
Binder
Binder
Binder
Binder
Binder
Binder
Binder
Binder
Page 4 Page 5 Page 6

Dhanraj & Dhillon

Pick Up A Fight

Dhillon and Dhanraj, who were sitting side by side in adjacent rows in the bus, picked up a quarrel. In a split second, Dhillon got up and thrashed Pillai.

Ballal, Ramandeep and others quickly intervened and separated Dhillon from Dhanraj. I asked Dhanraj, who was still upset, to come to the front row with me. On the way, I heard Dhanraj asking Dhillon if this how one should behave with a senior.

Page 7 Page 8 Page 9 Page 10 Page 11 Page 12

apan had entered the Asian Games semi-final at the expense of Commonwealth Games finalist Malaysia, when they held Pakistan to a 1-1 draw. For our semi-final against Japan, we studied the tapes of all previous matches involving Japan, including the video of the practice match we played against Japan on December 3.

We found that they were largely overcrowding the midfield to immobilise our forward line. We therefore decided to concentrate on the flanks. The Japanese players had good reflexes. So our defence was going to be careful not to give away easy penalty corners.

The match went as expected. Mukesh, Sabu, Somesh and Dhillon played extremely well. Sabu in particular was so excellent that many in the stands wanted to know his name.

The first and the only penalty corner in the first half put India in the lead. Dhillon played the ball to Dhanraj, and the pair worked in tandem till Dhillon flashed the ball to the roof of the net. For the second goal, Ramandeep converted a penalty stroke amidst great jubilation in the stands.

Then a long drive by Tirkey found Dhanraj in the right spot. The Indian captain darted in and finished with a superb backhander. Amidst scenes of unprecedented jubilation at the Queen Sirikit Stadium, we beat Japan by 3 goals to 1 to reach the final.

When we were returning from the match, an avoidable incident took place. Dhillon and Dhanraj, who were sitting side by side in adjacent rows in the bus, picked up a quarrel. In a split second, Dhillon got up and thrashed Pillai.

Ballal, Ramandeep and others quickly intervened and separated Dhillon from Dhanraj. The coaches and managers were sitting in the front rows - myself, M. R. Negi, G. S. Bhangu and Roopa Saini. On seeing the skirmish, we pacified the two players.

I asked Dhanraj, who was still upset, to come with me to the front row. On the way, I heard Dhanraj asking Dhillon if this was how one should behave with a senior. Bhangu went to the back row and kept advising Dhillon to be patient.

The next day, I called Dhanraj and Dhillon to my room. I told them that this was not the way to behave. They were seemingly apologetic about the incident. I asked them to forget about the past and made them shake hands.

The bitterness was forgotten, and everything was back to normal during that day's warm-up sessions.

Divider

Dhanraj and Dhillon in Friendlier Times

Divider