Former India hockey captain Sardar Singh on Saturday claimed that former coach Sjoerd Marijne and high performance director David John forced him to make a shock retirement in September.

Sardar singled out an incident during India's triumphant campaign in the Asia Cup in Dhaka last year. "I was called to his [John] room just before the match against Pakistan. The coach [Marijne] was also there. He [John] said I committed mistakes and I was playing a lot of individual hockey. Just before an important match, I was called to be told this. You can imagine how I felt. He could have told me this later," sad Sardar.