LAHORE, Dec 12: India hockey coach Gerhard Rach reacted sharply on Sunday over Sohail Abbas's statement about veteran Dhanraj Pillay, saying the penalty corner striker should not make comments about the Indian side.

"I think he (Sohail) should mind his own business. He should not comment on the Indian team and should see what his team did during the Champions Trophy," he told Dawn. Rach, a German hired by India weeks before Olympics, has been in the spotlight in Indian media for axing Pillay and a few others after the Athens Olympics where his side finished seventh.

Sohail had said in an interview that the Indian team needed experienced player like Pillay to give opposition some resistance through psychological advantage. "Sohail has been criticising India's defence but that is not his job.

If he thinks that India need Pillay than Pakistan team needs Flying Horse Samiullah as a player not as team manager," he said. "India would have won the Champions Trophy if we had Pillay," said Rach sarcastically during the post-match press conference. Sohail, however, said what he meant was that Pillay's presence would have made the opponents including Pakistan more cautious.

"All I meant was that Pillay being an experienced player could have been a psychological threat to other teams. Players come under psychological pressure if an experienced player is even standing in the field," he said.