Sardar Singh
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A brief biography
Have Played Enough, Says Former Skipper After Being Dropped
For over eight months, former India skipper Sardar Singh’s career has been like a musical chair. In and out of the national team and missing crucial tournaments, including the World Hockey League Final and the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games, the 32-year-old has finally decided to call it quits.
Sardar’s retirement comes after months of speculation of Hockey India wanting him to retire and on a day when he was dropped from the list of 25 campers for the Asian Champions Trophy and the World Cup.
The veteran of 314 matches was offered a lifeline ahead of the Jakarta Asian Games following a good showing in the Champions Trophy and home series against New Zealand. But in Jakarta, the 32-year-old’s game was found wanting in many areas, the primary one being tackling. Although not the fastest man on the field, Sardar always thrived on his strengths which included crisp passing and sharp tackling. Ability to soak pressure was his USP.
In the build-up to the Asian Games, Sardar, a deputy superintendent with the Haryana police, had admitted to TOI that though retirement was on his mind when he was dropped from the Commonwealth Games squad he believed he still had a lot of hockey left in him.
“I started getting offers to play in leagues in countries like Belgium and Spain (after being dropped from the Asian Games squad). I didn’t consider them and somewhere deep within I also felt I can still play for the country.”
Clearly the latest snub left him with no option but to move on.
Sardar will leave international hockey as one of the most decorated hockey players in recent times. In a career spanning over 12 years, he shouldered the highs and lows of Indian hockey.
The Haryana player made his international debut against Pakistan in Chandigarh in 2006. Known for his craft and shrewdness on the field, he soon rose in the ranks and was named the captain for the 2008 Azlan Shah tournament at the age of 21, making him the youngest Indian hockey skipper.
Although he established himself as a dependable midfielder in quick time, the Padma Shri awardee had his share of run-ins with Hockey India.
In 2011, with Australian coach Michael Nobbs at the helm, Sardar and Sandeep Singh were dropped for the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup as they failed to report to the camp and were away playing in the Belgian League. In June, they submitted an apology to join the camp only to walk out three weeks later for a World Series Hockey promotion in Mumbai.
Although they were refused entry into the camp, an apology saw them back. In August, less than a week before the team's departure for the Asian Champions Trophy, Sardar quit the camp citing personal reasons. He was stripped of captaincy ahead of the 2016 Rio Games following allegations of rape and criminal intimidation. From there on, Sardar’s career saw more lows than highs.
As Sardar walks into retirement, one can’t help but wonder, why hockey players are never given a fitting farewell in India.
