Michael Nobbs baffled by Sports Authority of India's contradictory decision

Asking all the questions, Michael Nobbs

Former India coach Michael Nobbs said he was surprised when SAI allowed both Roelant Oltmans and Terry Walsh to be a part of the second edition of HIL, which began on Saturday.

Nobbs stated: “I had an offer from one of the teams; the owner himself approached me. I took Roelant’s advice and asked him if it was a good idea. I was in two minds, considering I was the national team coach.”

“I also had discussions with SAI. With good reason, we both agreed it would compromise the position of national coach. Even Roelant said it would be conflict of interest. I respected his views and said no. So I am surprised that he is continuing as Uttar Pradesh’s coach and even Terry is allowed to do that. Isn’t that a conflict of interest?”

“I am a bit curious about Roelant’s role as he seems to just travel around with the team and not do his real job. He really is a defacto Indian coach. He has been trying to influence things. It happened with me and I guess Terry is experiencing a similar situation”.

This comes after Nobbs wasn’t allowed to accept the offer of coaching in HIL by the Sports Authority of India (SAI), who said it wasn’t ideal for the national coach to be a part of the HIL.

Nobbs stated that things were not rosy inside his head and he had to fight depression and coach the team,which wasn’t possible : “Towards the end of my term in India, the biggest problem was depression. I found it very lonely in India and although I had friends, I felt as if I had no support, I had no energy to do anything. So I just had to get out, it was almost claustrophobic”.