‘Harendra Singh has a good chance of becoming India’s coach again,’ says a source.

With the 2023 Hangzhou Asian Games u2013 a qualifying tournament for the 2024 Paris Olympics u2013 only seven months away, hiring a coach for the Olympic bronze medalists as soon as possible is a priority.
The National Sports Federation (NSF) has already advertised the position, with the deadline for applications being February 15. Former India coach Harendra Singh is one of several foreign coaches being mentioned.
This year’s major events are the Pro League and the Asian Games. We are focused on the latter because winning the event will guarantee India a spot in the Paris Olympics. We have many names under consideration, and Harendra is one of them, a key HI official said on condition of anonymity. Harendra has a proven track record with the junior team and will have a good opportunity to train the Indian team again.
Harendra led the Indian men’s junior team to victory at the 2016 Junior World Cup, after which he was promoted to coach the senior team, which he led until the 2018 World Cup, when India was eliminated in the quarter-finals. He was also the coach of the Indian women’s team that won the Asia Cup gold medal in 2017. Reid took over for Harendra in 2019.
However, Harendra, who is currently the head coach of the United States men’s team, refused to comment before advocating for an Indian to coach the national men’s team because he believes that homegrown coaches have a better understanding with players.
Take a look at the recent World Cup, where most teams had their own coaches. A homegrown coach is essential for India because he has a better understanding of each individual because our players come from diverse backgrounds, cultures, and environments, he said.
He suggested that HI appoint a high performance director for technical expertise. For that job I would love to see Australian legend Ric Charlesworth once again. I’ve worked with him and believe he’s the best candidate for this position. He starts where all the world’s coaches stop thinking. The man is a master at bringing out the best in players, he said.
Harendra also praised former HI president Narinder Batra for giving Indian hockey a big boost since the 2010 Commonwealth Games (CWG), adding that the Hockey India League (HIL) should be restarted because it allowed Indian players to rub shoulders with top Europeans and Australians.
Unquestionably, Batra has elevated Indian hockey to its proper place. India’s most recent journey began with the 2010 CWG. We saw professionalism, financial gain, and maximum exposure. HIL was a huge benefit for our players because they got to learn a lot of new things, he added.
Harendra proposed establishing a new domestic league as well as reviving state hockey leagues. I am saddened to see the state of hockey leagues in states such as Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, and West Bengal. We will have a large number of players across the country if we have regular domestic leagues like Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, and Madhya Pradesh. See how foreign teams use their strong domestic structure to find talent, he said.
Harendra described the holding of National Championships in all age groups as a annual fair, and suggested that HI divide the domestic structure into five zones: North, South, West, East, and Central, and hold leagues to keep our players busy for 8-9 months a year. The league would then function as a selection system.
Follow the pattern of Ranji Trophy cricket where all teams are equipped with top coaches, physios, video analysts, masseurs, yoga teachers etc. The revival of academies is also essential, as the game has changed drastically, and our domestic coaches must learn how to integrate science into the game. In India, we use an old system, and our domestic coaches are unwilling to learn the value of science in hockey and how to apply it, Harendra explained.