Roelant Oltmans sacked: As national coach exits, here's a look at his journey in Indian hockey

Agencies
September 3, 2017

Sept 3: On Saturday, Roelant Oltmans' reign as head coach of India's national men's hockey team came to an end after Hockey India sacked him for inconsistent performances and a lack of trust over his long term objectives.

Oltmans' journey with Indian hockey started in 2013 when he came in as the high performance director, and later became the national team's head coach in 2015 after Paul van Ass was dismissed. The current high performance director David John will be in charge of the team till a new head coach is found.

The decision was taken after a three-day review meeting, where Hockey India was unimpressed with Oltmans' presentation about the future of the national team.

"He (Oltmans) gave his presentation over the past two days but the committee felt the team now needs a new direction as it had not performed as we would have liked under him," John said.

"We want consistency. We want to finish in top three in international events. We want to win the Asia Cup, Hockey World League Finals and Asian Games. We want to finish on the podium in Commonwealth Games, next year's World Cup and 2020 Olympics," John added. 

After getting fired, Oltmans said, "We all (foreigners) know India is not the easiest of countries to work – especially in the sporting sector because of a host of issues. But in my mind, I was always prepared. When I took up the offer, I knew someday I will be sacked, but I was ready for that.

"I have no regrets because I know I have left a certain legacy for Indian hockey in the past four-and-a-half-years. The team has made significant progress and I just hope the process which I had set continues in the future," Oltmans added.

Here's a look at some of the major highlights of Oltmans' tryst with Indian hockey:

– January, 2013: Hockey India appoints Oltmans as high performance director. His main job was to formulate a long-term vision for senior, junior and sub-junior hockey teams.

– October, 2014: The then head coach of the men's national team Terry Walsh had resigned from his post over financial dispute and Hockey India put Oltmans in charge on a temporary basis.

– December, 2014: As an interim coach, Oltmans looked after the team in the Champions Trophy where India reached the last four stage. In the semis, they lost to arch-rivals Pakistan and also had to suffer defeat against Australia in the bronze medal match.

– February, 2015: Oltmans was relieved of his duties as interim coach as Hockey India named Paul van Ass of Netherlands as coach on a long-term basis.

– July, 2015: Just months into his job, van Ass was forced to exit after his alleged on-field public spat with the then Hockey India president Narinder Batra. Oltmans was then asked to take over the men's team as head coach till the 2016 Rio Olympics.

– August, 2015: India had a good start under new coach Oltmans as they put up impressive shows against France and Spain during their Europe tour.

– December, 2015: Oltmans oversaw India's remarkable outing in the Hockey World League in which they defeated Netherlands in penalty shootout to clinch the bronze medal.

– April, 2016: Oltmans guided India to the final of the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup where they lost to Australia 0-4.

– June, 2016: India and Australia once again met in the final of the Champions Trophy in London and Oltmans' team once again faced defeat in penalty shootout.

– August, 2016: At the Rio Olympics, India qualified for the quarter-finals where they lost to eventual silver medallists Belgium.

– October, 2016: Oltmans' team won the Asian Champions Trophy in Malaysia. In the final, they overcame Pakistan's challenge by beating them 3-2.

– June, 2017: India finished a disappointing sixth in the Hockey World League Semi-Final. Oltmans came under pressure after his team suffered losses against lower-ranked sides like Malaysia and Canada.

– August, 2017: Oltmans faced severe criticism when India lost both their matches to Belgium, but victories over Netherlands and Austria gave him some respite.

– September, 2017: Hockey India removed Oltmans as head coach for lack of a proper vision and under-performance of the national team.

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Agencies
January 5,2020

Mumbai, Jan 5: All-rounder Irfan Pathan on Saturday announced his retirement from all forms of cricket, ending an injury-ridden career that prevented him from realising his true potential.

The 35-year-old's retirement was on expected lines, considering he last played a competitive game in February 2019 during the Syed Mushtaq Ali trophy for Jammu and Kashmir.

He did not even put himself in the IPL auction pool, last month.

The left-arm seamer's bowling was like a breath of fresh air when he made his India debut against Australia at the Adelaide Oval in 2003.

He never had express pace but his natural ability to swing the ball into the right-handers got him instant success, also drawing comparisons with the great Kapil Dev.

It seemed India had found the all-rounder they were looking for since Kapil left the scene. Pathan, who last played for India in October 2012, featured in 29 Tests (1105 runs and 100 wickets), 120 ODIs (1544 runs and 173 wickets) and 24 T20 Internationals (172 runs and 28 wickets).

He was part of the victorious Indian team at the 2007 World Twenty20 and was the man-of-the-match in the final against Pakistan.

One of his best performances came on the tour of Pakistan in 2006 when he became the second Indian after Harbhajan Singh to take a Test hat-trick, removing Salman Butt, Younis Khan and Mohammad Yusuf during the Karachi game.

He also played a big role in India winning a Test match against Australia on a tough Perth wicket, which offered steep bounce.

Injuries and lack of form troubled him thereafter and his ability to swing the ball deteriorated.

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News Network
January 15,2020

Dubai, Jan 15: India skipper and batting mainstay Virat Kohli was on Wednesday named captain of the International Cricket Council's ODI and Test teams of the year, capping off a memorable season for the world No.1.

Apart from Kohli, there were four other Indians who were picked in the ICC's Test and ODI Teams of the Year.

While the Test team featured double-centurion Mayank Agarwal, opener Rohit Sharma, speedster Mohammed Shami and left-arm spinner Kuldeep Yadav found a place in the ODI side.

Kohli enjoyed a tremendous run in both the formats in 2019. The 31-year-old hit his seventh Test double hundred on the way to a career-best unbeaten 254 against South Africa in October last year.

It was a breakthrough year for opener Agarwal, who smashed two double tons, one century and went beyond the fifty-run mark twice. He hit a career-best score of 243 against Bangladesh in November.

Kuldeep, too, enjoyed a memorable year as he joined the golden list of bowlers with two hat-tricks. The chinaman claimed his second ODI hat-trick of his career against the West Indies last month.

In the absence of Indian pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah, Shami rose to the occasion making the best in the business hop, skip and jump with his pace, swing and bounce through the season. He scalped 42 wickets in 21 ODIs over the last 12 months.

The ICC's Teams of the Year 2019:

ODI Team of the Year (in batting order): Rohit Sharma, Shai Hope, Virat Kohli (captain), Babar Azam, Kane Williamson, Ben Stokes, Jos Buttler (wicketkeeper), Mitchell Starc, Trent Boult, Mohammed Shami, Kuldeep Yadav

Test Team of the Year (in batting order): Mayank Agarwal, Tom Latham, Marnus Labuschagne, Virat Kohli (captain), Steve Smith, Ben Stokes, BJ Watling (wicketkeeper), Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, Neil Wagner, Nathan Lyon.

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News Network
July 14,2020

New Delhi, Jul 14: Indian bowler Bhuvneshwar Kumar, who features in the list of A category players released by BCCI, has revealed his first-ever paycheck.

Bhuvneshwar was participating in a question and answer session on Twitter where he gave his take on fans' queries.

The 30-year-old bowler was asked about his first paycheck by a fan and Bhuvneshwar responded by saying, "It was for Rs 3000. I shopped and still managed to saved some."

During the question and answer session Bhuvneshwar picked Barcelona striker Lionel Messi over Juventus star Cristiano Ronaldo.

The right-arm bowler also revealed that football and badminton are his favourite sports other than cricket.

Earlier this year, Bhuvneshwar was named in the list A category of players. BCCI had released the list of centrally contracted players for the period from October 2019 to September 2020. Annually, A category players get Rs 5 crore.

The right-arm bowler would have been in action for Sunrisers Hyderabad if the Indian Premier League (IPL) had commenced from March 29. However, the tournament was postponed indefinitely due to the coronavirus pandemic.

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