Olympian Viren Rasquinha was diplomatic when asked about his chances of a comeback into the Indian hockey team and said it was upto the authorities to decide on the matter.

Rasquinha, who was controversially omitted from the team that performed disastrously at the Doha Asian Games after being a camp regular, said in Mumbai on Thursday, "It's up to the (hockey) federation."

The Indian Oil employee, who was deeply hurt at his unexpected axing from the squad by the IHF selectors for the last Asian Games, seems to have got over that phase and said he was concentrating on leading Maratha Warriors to the podium finish in the ongoing National Football League in Chandigarh.

"We are doing well this year after finishing at the bottom last year. We are currently in third position with two matches in hand and are hopeful of a good finish."

Asked about the chances of the country qualifying for the Beijing Olympics next year, Rasquinha said it was a difficult task but not an impossible one that can be achieved with careful and meticulous planning.

"We need to plan properly and have a continuity going in team selections. I don't know how many tournaments are there for us to achieve the goal, but it's definitely not going to be easy," he said.

Queried about the progress made by China in the sport, Rasquinha said though he had not played against the Chinese they should be a vastly improved unit for having beaten both India and Pakistan in the Doha Games.