Gurbaj Singh was suspended for nine months by Hockey India in August. Gurbaj Singh was suspended for nine months by Hockey India in August.

Even as a social media campaign demanding ‘Justice for Gurbaj Singh’ gathered pace – seeking the right-half’s return to the team – his teammates already seem to be preparing themselves for a future without him. India coach Roelant Oltmans conceded that Gurbaj’s return to the squad for next year’s Rio Olympics looks unlikely whereas captain Sardar Singh and forward SV Sunil said the team is trying various combinations to shore-up India’s right flank – one in which Gurbaj was a key component and one through which most attacking moves were strung together.

The 27-year-old midfielder was suspended for nine months by Hockey India last month. His appeal to reverse the decision also fell on deaf ears, with a committee deciding to uphold the ban last Friday after they found him guilty of creating factions within the team as well as misbehaving with the coaches.

It’s a charge Gurbaj has staunchly denied and threatened to take Hockey India to court. But his hopes of making the cut for the Olympic-bound squad are dim. With no like-for-like replacement, one of Oltmans’ priorities will be to find a player who can replace Gurbaj on the right and ensure he gets used to the position in time for the Olympics.

Since his return to the team last year after more than 18 months in exile, Gurbaj has been one of the mainstays of the team, on par with skipper Sardar Singh in terms of his contribution on field. Most of India’s moves in recent tournaments have been initiated from the right flank, where Gurbaj forged a great partnership with SV Sunil and Dharamvir Singh.

The Dutchman said he does not know how he will fill the void left by Gurbaj’s absence but was confident of finding a ‘good solution’ so that the team continues creating good goal-scoring opportunities from the right.

Experimenting

“In Spain and France (test series) Gurbaj wasn’t there so we tried a couple of combinations. We are prepared for it. I am not trying to say we have found the right combination already but there will be some options. Jasjit Singh, Gurjinder Singh, VR Raghunath are some of the players who can play in that position,” Oltmans said ahead of team’s training session at the National Stadium on Tuesday.

“I am not sure yet to be honest. But that is the situation and we will find a good solution..”

India will try out various combinations on the right during the test series against New Zealand next month. India will play four matches against Black Sticks’ senior side apart from two warm-up ties against New Zealand A during their 10-day tour.

Defender Pardeep Mor, 23, and Chinglensana Singh are the other two options Oltmans has been exploring to replace Gurbaj. Sunil, who often depended on assists by Gurbaj to make a run down the opponent’s half, insisted there is still time to work out a new partnership on the right.

“We developed a nice combination. The understanding between myself, Gurbaj and Dharamvir was quite strong but it’s a decision taken by Hockey India so we have to abide by it. We have to deal with the situation and ensure we make the most of the remaining time to figure out a new combination,” Sunil said.

Improve attack

Apart from fixing India’s severely weakened right flank, Oltmans said his priority is also to improve the team’s efficiency in the attacking third. India are often accused of being wasteful despite creating several goal-scoring opportunities and have also been poor in earning penalty corners. “We are trying to improve the understanding between the forward line so that we can create more goal scoring opportunities. There are a lot of times in games where we enter the 25-yard circle of the opponent but we have not been very effective. So we have to develop a different way of understanding and see that we can create more out of those situations,” Oltmans said.

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