NEW DELHI: You may either agree with him or disagree, but former Pakistan striker Rehan Butt has never held himself back when sharing his views on a particular subject. Like the free-flowing nature of his game during his playing days, the current assistant coach of the senior Pakistan men's team freely expressed his disappointment about what he believes is a fact - that hockey is no longer producing any star players world over.
Butt has his reasons for that, which he shared in this interview with Timesofindia.com during Pakistan team's visit for the Men's Asia Champions Trophy (ACT) recently held in Chennai, where India went on to lift the title beating Malaysia in the final.
Intertwined with anecdotes from the famous India vs Pakistan encounters he was part of and the off-field bonhomie he still shares with the Indian players, Butt talked about what Pakistan hockey should do to lift its status once again and what the International Hockey Federation (FIH) could look at in terms of tweaking the rules, which will help hockey produce global stars once again.
Excerpts of an interview to TimesofIndia.com...
You have been to India often. Do you feel any change each time you come back?
I never feel I am in India. I never feel we are two nations. Same type of food, same type of clothes. So you never realize whether you are in Pakistan or India. But yes, when India and Pakistan are playing against each other (in India), then the entire stadium is with India and if Pakistan scores a goal, then there is pin-drop silence. The same will happen in Pakistan if India plays there. It's natural. But if we (Pakistan) are playing against another team, then the Indian crowd supports us. When we get out of the stadium, people want to meet us. The media has always made us feel welcome.
But the standard of Pakistan hockey has fallen drastically, to the point that the team has missed Olympics and World Cups. Has that taken the sheen off the India vs Pakistan hockey rivalry, you think?
Whenever India and Pakistan have played, it's never been like a difference of 5-7 goals...and it's not about the teams on paper when India and Pakistan play. It's a different scenario altogether on the ground...Whenever it's India vs Pakistan, coaching goes in the dustbin and just emotions and 'josh' (enthusiasm) is on display.
Image credit: ANI
Still Pakistan hockey needs to find ways to bring back its glorious past...
Pakistan hockey is now tired of short-term planning; we have to start planning for the long term. If you see this team (that participated in ACT 2023 in Chennai), it's a young team, with players having 2, 4, 5 caps...Till now, whatever little international experience they have, the team is playing excellently. Everybody is saying that we are getting to see Pakistan's attacking hockey again after a long time. So it feels good.
You were part of many India-Pakistan games. What kind of relationship do you share with the Indian players?
Mostly it's what I can't share (smiles), but still I will tell you. We were kind of naughty; not just me; there was Salman Akbar, Muhammad Saqlain and others. If we talk about the Indian team, we had Gagan (Ajit Singh), Jugraj (Singh), Kamalpreet (Singh), Prabhjot (Singh). When we used to go out together, it was a different atmosphere altogether. But I will keep those stories on the side and tell you a story from the ground.
I think it was during the 8-match home-and-away series between India and Pakistan, with four games in India and four in Pakistan. This, I believe, was during the match in Jalandhar. There was an Indian full-back called Harpal. I dodged him and his patka (turban) came off a little. He showed me his stick in anger and said 'tu mainu mareya' (you hit me). I told him "mai tainu nahi mareya, eh aape khul geya, tu gussa kyo karna peya' (I didn't hit you, it came off on its own, why are you getting angry). But he said now you come again near me. The I dodged him once again and he said 'hun tu aa (now you come)'. Then I told him 'Now I don't want to come, I have done what I wanted to do' (laughs).
So this kind of chit-chat went on when we were on the field. But off the field we are close friends. Like when I entered India from Wagah border (with the ACT team), Jugraj came to receive me, then on his phone Kamalpreet called. So, good memories were revived.
Team India aside, has the standard of hockey in Asia overall declined?
Not just in Asia, the standard of hockey has fallen world over. If you look at Germany, it is the No. 5 ranked team (4th in current FIH Men's team rankings), Australia is No. 6. It means overall (the level of) hockey is falling. Tell me one thing: Of late, which star has hockey produced? Like you had Dhanraj Pillay - big star, Shahbaz Sr - big star, Pargat Singh - big star. Then from our era, Sandeep Singh - big star, Sohail Abbas - big star, people know Rehan Butt as well. Why has (the) star culture vanished? Because right now the quality of players is not the same.
If you talk about one (star) player that India relies on currently, it's their drag-flicker Harmanpreet Singh. But which foreign player do you think is a big star? Earlier, there was Christopher Zeller, Teun de Nooijer, Taeke Taekema, Floris Bovelander and many others. People knew them. Right now, I don't think fans can name even one player who plays for Holland, Germany, etc.
Image credit: PTI
What would you suggest if asked how this can be changed?
To change this, the rolling substitution rule has to be altered. Nowadays, every two minutes we call a player back just because hockey has become very fast. Which star is born in two minutes? He comes back, sits out for three minutes, then goes back in, then plays for 2-3 minutes. I think this thing is finishing heroes in hockey.
I have a suggestion related to this for the FIH. If a player has come out after playing for 5 minutes in a particular quarter, then he should not be allowed to go back in during the same quarter. This will make the coach think about keeping his best players on the pitch for 7-10 minutes and rest them for the last five minutes. Until such tweaks are made, I don't think hockey will start producing stars again.
A trial of new PC rules was also offered by the FIH, but they withdrew that soon after....
Drag-flickers produce goals, so this too is kind of putting an end to (the) star culture. Every country has invested a lot in order to prepare the drag-flickers that they have now.
In case India don't go on to win the gold medal at the Asian Games, they will have to travel to Pakistan to play the Olympic qualifiers. How big will that be for Pakistan hockey?
It will be very big. It's been a while since India travelled to Pakistan; I think it was 2004-05 when India last came to Pakistan. But India have a really good chance (to win gold) at the Asian Games. They are a very superior team, ranked world No. 4 (climbed to No. 3 after winning the ACT). The other (Asian) teams are languishing at No. 9, 10 and lower.
