I wanted to retire at my peak: Rasquinha

A day after announcing his retirement from international hockey Viren Rasquinha speaks to Gautam Sheth in an exclusive interview on why he made the decision

Viren, at 27 when most players reach there peak, you have retired?

To be honest there is no chance for me to play for India again. Once you are out of the game for more than a year, to regain the same level of fitness is really difficult. Also I was never too keen to play for long. I have now played 8 years of international hockey besides which from the age of 12, I played club level hockey.

My decision has nothing to do with the status of the game in the country. The game has given me more fond memories than anything else. I always wanted to retire at my peak.

At the end of the day I also had to think practically. When offered an admission to a reputed B-school like ISB, Hyderabad, I could not think of passing it out.

You were planning on pursuing your studies abroad?

Yes, I had planned to go abroad for pursuing my studies, but given a choice between India and other countries, I would prefer to stay back in the country. I have travelled to various countries, what India has is something special.

In fact during my stint in German Bundesliga, my club offered me a long term three - year contract, and were also willing to fund my MBA from University of Stuttgart. But I can’t think of settling in a place like Germany.

But the best part of the contract was that in a year the league use to run for only 6 months and we were being paid for the non-playing 6 months too. I could even come back to India in that time and my fees would still come in. Nevertheless, I turned it down.

Any chances of a comeback at all?

I think I have played enough; even this year’s edition of PHL was my last stint. I don’t think I would go to German Bundesliga too. At this stage of my career, given the choice, I would definitely choose MBA over hockey. People were wondering that in an Olympic year I retired, but honestly I have retired from the game completely. I don’t see myself playing hockey again.

What according to you is the shelf life of a hockey player in the country?

I don’t think a player would be able to be at his peak for more than 5 – 6 years. Beyond which they will be dragging for another 3 – 4 maximum. It has nothing to do with our player being unfit. The fact is that the game has become more physical and athletic in nature. The demands of the game are too steep in the sense.

Exceptions to such cases are Dhanraj Pillay and Dilip Tirkey who even at the age of 30 and above are physically as fit as any player in the team. But not everyone is of the same calibre.

Looking back at your career who were the few good men who made the difference?

The talent in me was spotted by assiduous Marzaban ‘Bawa’ Patel. He had seen me at the age of 12 playing at the Mt Carmel Church rink hockey tournament. He then offered me to play for his club Bombay Republicans. He laid the foundation of hockey in me. Even at this very moment, you would see Bawa at the Bombay Hockey Association (BHA). He is a man who would be available at the BHA 365 days a year, even in rains or in sunshine. In fact every boy from Bombay who has gone on to play for India has gone through Bawa’s rigorous training.

Did you ever think of playing Cricket for the country?

To play a sport for the country you really need to be very good. I was really good at hockey. My cricket skills were restricted to the gully’s of my area. In fact when I played cricket, I did break quite a few window panes. And while playing hockey I didn’t break so many, therefore I thought of taking up hockey (laughs).

Your childhood was Hockey centric?

In fact in my locality we played all the games including football, cricket, volleyball, hide-n-seek and hockey of course. My father used to take me to BHA to watch hockey matches. No one from the family used to play any sport but my family is a sports loving family. After Bawa spotted my talent, there was no looking back. My family thoroughly supported me throughout.

Where and how is Hockey moving in the country?

Till now Premier Hockey League (PHL) is the best thing happened to the game in the country. To take the game at a new level, we need to have PHL’s for younger age groups too. PHL should be introduced at the junior levels. The reason behind this is we need to get our players used to the astro-turfs as early in their careers as possible. We also have infrastructural and promotional issues to be addressed. The game has to be promoted in a much better way. PHL is the ideal platform. We should churn out the best from it.

We do have a real big pool of players, but the facilities provided to them should improve for them to be as competitive and physically as fit as their western counterparts.

What according to you does Indian hockey need to come at the best level?

We need more heroes and icons in the game. Almost all the playing eleven of the cricket team are household names. But hockey does not have anything beyond a Dhanraj Pillay. We need more Dhanraj Pillay’s in the country.

Also as I said earlier, we need to market the game in a better way. The marketing will only improve if the boys perform and prove themselves to be amongst the best. For instance, we recently won the Asia Cup. The boys shot up in the limelight. But then the performance of the team should be consistent throughout to get a better future.

Any regrets?

Not at all. The decision is absolutely well thought. It’s time that I would want to sleep till 8 in the morning, for more than 10 years I have been getting up at 5. I want to sleep more for at least two months till I join my course.