Yesterday I read about a story titled “Indian hockey turns very sick” in e-paper edition of the Times of India. The story reports that Indian hockey players went on strike at national camp to get their dues from hockey India. This incident adds another sad chapter in the history of our national game hockey. The game has a long and glorious past in India. The first hockey club came up in Calcutta in 1885-86 and later few clubs came up in Bombay and Punjab. India made its Olympic debut in 1928 in Amsterdam Games. India earned its first Olympic as well hockey gold medal in the same game. India did not concede even single goal in entire tournament due to the excellence of likes of Dhyan Chand. From 1928 to 1956, we won six consecutive Olympic gold medals and made a record streak of 28 wins in a row. During this period, India scored 178 goals conceded only 7.

This is the golden history of Indian hockey. We dominated the hockey world and produced some of the finest players in the history of the game. The Indian stranglehold over the Olympic hockey came to an end, when we were defeated by Pakistan in the final of the 1960 Rome Olympics. However, we can still boost of the record created by forefathers of our hockey. So far no other team has even come close to defeating our Olympic record; the record created by us is likely to stand strong through ages. Talking about some of the legendary and outstanding players of Indian hockey, Dhyan Chand, K.D. Singh, Md Shahid, Jafar Iqbal, Dhanraj Pillay and Dilip Tirkey are some names that come to mind instantly. Thanks to their exceptional gaming technique and enduring enthusiasm, the position of India in the field of hockey achieved new heights.

Set aside the history, in last 3 decades, Indian hockey has been on continuous decline. And this trend reach to the point where we can say that Indian hockey got completely buried when it failed to qualify for Olympics in Santiago. The land of Dhyanchand, the person who made Don Bradman wonder if it was the number of goals scored or the number of runs (Dhyanchand had scored 200 goals on a tour), is suffering from this embarrassment of not playing in the premier competition of the World hockey.

Last time India hockey did something worth mentioning was gold medal in 1998 Asian Games. Before that we won 1980 Olympic gold that too when 3 top hockey playing nations Australia, Pakistan and New Zealand boycotted the games. Apart from these 2 wins, we don’t have any thing to cherish about hockey in last several decades.

I am not a hockey expert and by default know little about cricket only because it’s covered all over in the media. With my little understanding of the game let me share with you what I feel should be done to save our national game.

I am not against cricket but the way over emphasis on cricket has led to marginalization of other game, hockey is also not an exception. Forget about big financial gains, international hockey players don’t even get basic financial support to lead a respectable life. What happened in Pune yesterday bears testimony to this fact. We often hear that several members of Olympic Gold Medal winning teams are struggling for basic needs. Such apathy from the system has led to reduced interest in hockey, a father would prefer his son to play cricket over hockey because cricket gives not only stardom but also attractive financial gains. Therefore, the first think our system should do is to ensure that if not comparable to cricket at least basic minimum financial security to hockey players.

There are some basic problems with the administration of hockey in India. Here I would not like to make any personal allegations but I believe hockey has been monopolized by few individuals. Same set of people have been at the helm of affaires for a long time despite pathetic performance of our team over the decades. These old guards, I feel, are short of ideas and are against any change. We need to change it immediately and ensure that new people with better knowledge and desire to excel should manage the game. Some time back I had heard that some people in Indian hockey Federation were involved in corrupt practices in selection of teams. I don’t know how far it is true but if any thing like this has been happening, no wonder we reached where we are today.

We are not short of talent. I am aware that in some tribal areas of Jharkhand, Orissa and Chhatisgrah, hockey lives in blood of people. I am sure if proper talent hunt is done, we can have many more Dhanraj Pillay and Dilip Tirkey.

I am sure if experts and real lover of the game sit together, many more ideas will come up. Therefore, brain storming sessions with those who know and love the game can be of great help. All I can say at the end that we all need to respect our national game and do our best to save it.

PS: हॉकी के मसले से हट कर मै आज मोहन सिंह जी का भी धन्यवाद देना चाहता हूँ की उन्होंने इस पूंजीवादी सेवक द्वारा उनको कुछ दिए जाने की बात स्वीकारी है. मै यहाँ पर यह भी बताना चाहूँगा कि इस मसले को मेरे से पहले मोहन भाई ने बनारस की एक संगोष्ठी में सार्वजनिक किया था, इस लिए इस बात को सार्वजनिक करने का इल्जाम आप मेरे ऊपर नहीं लगा सकते है. पर इतना जरूर कहूँगा कि मोहन भाई आपके मन में मेरे पूंजीवादी होने की भावना का जन्म रातोरात तो नहीं हुआ होगा, आपके मन में तो यह बात वर्षो से रही होगी, तो फिर आपने इस पूंजीवादी सेवक से बहुत कुछ एक बार नहीं कई बार लिया है, आखिर क्यूँ, कही आपकी समाजवाद की परिभाषा में भी तो कोई दोष नहीं है?

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