Coach says Pillay to retire; Pillay non-committal

Four-time Olympian Dhanraj Pillay would retire after the Athens Games, Gerhard Rach said on Tuesday but the mercurial player was non-committal about his future.

Four-time Olympian Dhanraj Pillay would retire after the Athens Games, India's chief coach Gerhard Rach said on Tuesday but the mercurial player was non-committal about his future.

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Rach said two senior players were in line to hang their boots once the Games concluded. Asked specifically if Pillay was one of them, he said, "Yes. I have been told that he will retire after the Olympics."

The 36-year-old Pillay, however, said he would wait till returning home before taking any decision on his hockey future.

"I have not decided anything as yet. We have to play two more games here. I will go back home and decide about my career," said the temperamental player, considered as one of the greats of the game.

The German coach, whose tactics have been criticised by Pillay and Prabhjot Singh, said he was not worried by what lay in store for India who have had a disastrous show in the Games with just one win from five matches.

"Right now we have the Olympics at hand. We will worry about the furute later but I know for sure that two senior players will retire after the Games."

Asked whether the second player was Baljit Singh Dhillon, he laughed and said "you seem to know everything".