Details
Indian Hockey’s Golden Age relegated to a Grandpa’s Tale
01-Jul-2019
”
By Gopalkrishna Hegde,
Senior Journalist and Station Director, KLE Dhwani ( BVB 90.4 FM)
[email protected]
Indian hockey history makes for a very interesting tale that needs to be told. Acknowledged historian of the Olympics’ story, David Wallechinsky, has brilliantly elucidated on the subject in his book titled, “The Complete Book of the Summer Olympics”.
“Interest in hockey proliferated through out India after the Olympic triumph of 1928. When the time came to raise funds to send (the Indian) team for the Los Angeles Olympics in 1932, the Indian Hockey Federation (IHF) sent a journalist to meet Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi seeking a pan-India appeal to the Indian people for raising the money. Gandhi’s response was, “What is hockey?” Never theless, the Indian team did eventually reach Los Angeles, even financing its travel subsequently through exhibition matches across Europe on the return journey.
Needless to say, the Indian hockey team had won the gold at Los Angeles. A winning streak by the Indian field hockey reigned till the 1956 Melbourne Olympics, accounting for six consecutive gold medals. In the 1960 Rome Olympics, however, India lost to Pakistan in the finals by a 0-1 margin and had to be satisfied with silver. The Indians avenged the defeat in the 1964 Tokyo Olympics with the same score line, this time in their favor and reclaimed the glory of gold once again.
But this was also the beginning of the end of our Olympic hockey glory. India was displaced from the number one ranking in the world, and took consolation with a bronze medal thereafter, even having had to settle for the wooden spoon (last position) subsequently right up to 2016.
There was the one gold medal that regained Indian hockey’s field glory briefly at the 1980 Olympics held in Moscow, thanks to a truncated number of participating nations due to an international boycott. All the major hockey playing nations had skipped the games in support of the USA. India won gold once again, but its victory was described as “a less than 24 carat gold” performance, more in the nature of a ‘rolled gold’ achievement. After that Olympics, Indian hockey has lived on only as part of old ‘grandpa’s tales’ of its past glory.
“What was the ailment that struck and has remained with Indian hockey?” Is the most commonly asked question. Had MK Gandhi acknowledged hockey back then and further, if Indian Maharajas who loved the British and cricket (as also their whisky) more than their own country, supported hockey it would have definitely scaled the international heights of competition for the country even today. After the great success at the Olympic Games, hockey was designated India’s “National Sport”. But the game never really received support on the scale that cricket did from either the government, or the people.
The Indian cricket team under Kapil Dev triumphed at the 1983 World Cup tournament held in England which was akin to the final nail in the Indian hockey coffin. Before this international win, Indian cricketers were perhaps only slightly better off than their hockey cousins, insofar as employment opportunities and available sports facilities went.
“Kapil da ka jawab nahi.” Kapil’s devils became overnight heroes overnight in the country and cricket ascended to the status of top sport in the country. Today an international Indian hockey does not even compare in terms of money earned by even an ordinary cricket player, what to talk of the stark disparity with IPL cricketers. He may not earn in an entire life time what an IPL player earns in just one season. Not even ten per cent of the overall cricket fans in India turn up for international hockey fixtures to support our national hockey team. Of course the interest in hockey rises during the Olympic Games or during World Cup tournaments. Even in hockey the national pride is kindled when India faces off with Pakistan. However, okay levels have gone down. It is alright today if India does not win the world Cup, as long as it does not lose to arch rivals Pakistan. The situation is exactly reversed in Pakistan also.
Cynics blame cricket for the downfall of almost all other sports in the country. Going further they say the media supports cricket more than any other game. There may be some truth in this but, I don’t agree that cricket as a game is responsible for the step motherly treatment accorded to the other sports. It is true that the powerful people of India loved the English and cricket more than other things. But hockey and the other sports failed to ascend the way cricket did through an evolution process all over the country. The Indian cricket board, the richest in the world today, ensured it’s all round growth from the grass roots level throughout the country. Television coverage all over the world filled the coffers of the board to the point of overflowing. Cricket administrators and officials at all layers enjoyed the fruits of this new money spinner.
Sports federations (for other games) in the country never bothered about the welfare of the players. They thought, and still do, that their self interest comes before the players.
These federations depend upon government funding and never exercised efforts at self sufficiency. Corruption and nepotism killed other sports (talent) in India. The sufferers were the players. These aberrations prevailed in cricket too, but there were more good things than bad here and that was the crucial difference. A underlying slogan of “Hum bhi khayenge, aap bhi khao; hum bhi khush, aap bhi khush” (We will also eat, so will you. We are happy, and so are you) helped the game of cricket to flourish. And the media en-cashed on this by dishing out more of the popular demand by the people.
The World Cup hockey tournament has just concluded at Bhubaneswar in Odisa. It was the same old story repeated for the Indian team. We played well but, failed to win the title. Why? What is the problem? Who is responsible for this? Nobody has answered these questions. The issues are conveniently forgotten.
Over the last few years the performance of the Indian hockey team has considerably improved but, they are still unable to win the titles. They failed at the Asian Games and now again, at the World Cup. The team lacked the killer instinct. The players underwent specialized training in penalty corner conversions but there was no positive outcome to see. India lost to the Netherlands in the quarterfinals after a very good first half game. They controlled the ball better than the Dutch. But in the second half, the Indians looked jaded and their speed decelerated. The Dutch hopped on them and did not allow them to recover. The Dutch and other foreign teams like Belgium and Australia looked fitter than India. The speed at which the sport is played has overtaken the stick skills of players. The ‘Dhyan Chand’ type of game does not suit the fast and flat Astroturf surfaces, introduced by the Europeans. Winning is of sole importance.
Indian hockey needs better thinkers. Changing coaches frequently does not help. The problem with foreign coaches manifests itself in challenges of language and communication. When the synthetic surface replaced the natural grass grounds, India were too slow to adapt to the same. For too many years there were few facilities with Astroturf capabilities. India has fallen behind in the race. Uniform grassroots programs need to be taken up throughout the country. The parents and children should be assured of a good future in hockey. Today every parent wants their son to be like Virat Kohli, Sachin Tendulkar or Rahul Dravid.
IPL gets more importance than Ranji trophy or test matches. Mercenary cricket has become the main national obsession. In hockey that may not happen at all since nobody has nurtured the sport properly. The popularity of cricketers is only matched by film stars in India. Hockey players are nowhere near achieving such crazy fan following or blind worship. Enough of fooling around with the game of hockey has taken place. Let us say ‘Chak de India’, while working sincerely in effort, honestly in dedication to start with. The results will only follow!”
“By Gopalkrishna Hegde,
Senior Journalist and Station Director, KLE Dhwani ( BVB 90.4 FM)
[email protected]
Indian hockey history makes for a very interesting tale that needs to be told. Acknowledged historian of the Olympics’ story, David Wallechinsky, has brilliantly elucidated on the subject in his book titled, “The Complete Book of the Summer Olympics”.
“Interest in hockey proliferated through out India after the Olympic triumph of 1928. When the time came to raise funds to send (the Indian) team for the Los Angeles Olympics in 1932, the Indian Hockey Federation (IHF) sent a journalist to meet Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi seeking a pan-India appeal to the Indian people for raising the money. Gandhi’s response was, “What is hockey?” Never theless, the Indian team did eventually reach Los Angeles, even financing its travel subsequently through exhibition matches across Europe on the return journey.
Needless to say, the Indian hockey team had won the gold at Los Angeles. A winning streak by the Indian field hockey reigned till the 1956 Melbourne Olympics, accounting for six consecutive gold medals. In the 1960 Rome Olympics, however, India lost to Pakistan in the finals by a 0-1 margin and had to be satisfied with silver. The Indians avenged the defeat in the 1964 Tokyo Olympics with the same score line, this time in their favor and reclaimed the glory of gold once again.
But this was also the beginning of the end of our Olympic hockey glory. India was displaced from the number one ranking in the world, and took consolation with a bronze medal thereafter, even having had to settle for the wooden spoon (last position) subsequently right up to 2016.
There was the one gold medal that regained Indian hockey’s field glory briefly at the 1980 Olympics held in Moscow, thanks to a truncated number of participating nations due to an international boycott. All the major hockey playing nations had skipped the games in support of the USA. India won gold once again, but its victory was described as “a less than 24 carat gold” performance, more in the nature of a ‘rolled gold’ achievement. After that Olympics, Indian hockey has lived on only as part of old ‘grandpa’s tales’ of its past glory.
“What was the ailment that struck and has remained with Indian hockey?” Is the most commonly asked question. Had MK Gandhi acknowledged hockey back then and further, if Indian Maharajas who loved the British and cricket (as also their whisky) more than their own country, supported hockey it would have definitely scaled the international heights of competition for the country even today. After the great success at the Olympic Games, hockey was designated India’s “National Sport”. But the game never really received support on the scale that cricket did from either the government, or the people.
The Indian cricket team under Kapil Dev triumphed at the 1983 World Cup tournament held in England which was akin to the final nail in the Indian hockey coffin. Before this international win, Indian cricketers were perhaps only slightly better off than their hockey cousins, insofar as employment opportunities and available sports facilities went.
“Kapil da ka jawab nahi.” Kapil’s devils became overnight heroes overnight in the country and cricket ascended to the status of top sport in the country. Today an international Indian hockey does not even compare in terms of money earned by even an ordinary cricket player, what to talk of the stark disparity with IPL cricketers. He may not earn in an entire life time what an IPL player earns in just one season. Not even ten per cent of the overall cricket fans in India turn up for international hockey fixtures to support our national hockey team. Of course the interest in hockey rises during the Olympic Games or during World Cup tournaments. Even in hockey the national pride is kindled when India faces off with Pakistan. However, okay levels have gone down. It is alright today if India does not win the world Cup, as long as it does not lose to arch rivals Pakistan. The situation is exactly reversed in Pakistan also.
Cynics blame cricket for the downfall of almost all other sports in the country. Going further they say the media supports cricket more than any other game. There may be some truth in this but, I don’t agree that cricket as a game is responsible for the step motherly treatment accorded to the other sports. It is true that the powerful people of India loved the English and cricket more than other things. But hockey and the other sports failed to ascend the way cricket did through an evolution process all over the country. The Indian cricket board, the richest in the world today, ensured it’s all round growth from the grass roots level throughout the country. Television coverage all over the world filled the coffers of the board to the point of overflowing. Cricket administrators and officials at all layers enjoyed the fruits of this new money spinner.
Sports federations (for other games) in the country never bothered about the welfare of the players. They thought, and still do, that their self interest comes before the players.
These federations depend upon government funding and never exercised efforts at self sufficiency. Corruption and nepotism killed other sports (talent) in India. The sufferers were the players. These aberrations prevailed in cricket too, but there were more good things than bad here and that was the crucial difference. A underlying slogan of “Hum bhi khayenge, aap bhi khao; hum bhi khush, aap bhi khush” (We will also eat, so will you. We are happy, and so are you) helped the game of cricket to flourish. And the media en-cashed on this by dishing out more of the popular demand by the people.
The World Cup hockey tournament has just concluded at Bhubaneswar in Odisa. It was the same old story repeated for the Indian team. We played well but, failed to win the title. Why? What is the problem? Who is responsible for this? Nobody has answered these questions. The issues are conveniently forgotten.
Over the last few years the performance of the Indian hockey team has considerably improved but, they are still unable to win the titles. They failed at the Asian Games and now again, at the World Cup. The team lacked the killer instinct. The players underwent specialized training in penalty corner conversions but there was no positive outcome to see. India lost to the Netherlands in the quarterfinals after a very good first half game. They controlled the ball better than the Dutch. But in the second half, the Indians looked jaded and their speed decelerated. The Dutch hopped on them and did not allow them to recover. The Dutch and other foreign teams like Belgium and Australia looked fitter than India. The speed at which the sport is played has overtaken the stick skills of players. The ‘Dhyan Chand’ type of game does not suit the fast and flat Astroturf surfaces, introduced by the Europeans. Winning is of sole importance.
Indian hockey needs better thinkers. Changing coaches frequently does not help. The problem with foreign coaches manifests itself in challenges of language and communication. When the synthetic surface replaced the natural grass grounds, India were too slow to adapt to the same. For too many years there were few facilities with Astroturf capabilities. India has fallen behind in the race. Uniform grassroots programs need to be taken up throughout the country. The parents and children should be assured of a good future in hockey. Today every parent wants their son to be like Virat Kohli, Sachin Tendulkar or Rahul Dravid.
IPL gets more importance than Ranji trophy or test matches. Mercenary cricket has become the main national obsession. In hockey that may not happen at all since nobody has nurtured the sport properly. The popularity of cricketers is only matched by film stars in India. Hockey players are nowhere near achieving such crazy fan following or blind worship. Enough of fooling around with the game of hockey has taken place. Let us say ‘Chak de India’, while working sincerely in effort, honestly in dedication to start with. The results will only follow!”
