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Home , 1973 World Cup, Asian Hockey Federation, Aslam Sher Khan, Dhyan Chand, Harbinder Singh, Hockey India

TABLE OF CONTENTS

SERIAL PARTICULARS PAGE NO. NO. 1 HISTORY OF MEN’S HOCKEY- ITS ORIGIN 2 HISTORY OF WOMEN’S HOCKEY- ITS ORIGIN AND PROGRESS 3 - ITS ORIGIN AND PROGRESS 4 THE GOLDEN MOMENTS OF INDIAN HOCKEY- RECORD IN OLYMPICS 5 GRADUAL DECLINE IN THE PERFORMANCE OF HOCKEY TEAM- CAUSES 6 INDIAN MEN’S HOCKEY TEAM FAILING TO QUALIFY FOR BEIJING OLYMPICS 7 RESIGNATION OF HIGH OFFICIALS DUE TO THE FAILURE 8 CRICKET AND HOCKEY COMPARED 9 LAYMAN’S SOLUTION FOR THE REVIVAL OF INDIAN HOCKEY OBJECTIVE

Every work is and should be supported by an objective. Without a specific objective that particular work is of no use. Therefore every project work should have something to say or teach people who are reading it.

Here the topic of discussion is the “JOURNEY OF INDIAN HOCKEY”. We are here to discuss about how hockey evolved as a world famous game, how it came to and the way the Indians mastered it. But we have to consider the slowdown in the performance of Indian hockey teams in the last 2-3 decades. It has really shown a downward trend. Then we will look upon the causes for the decline and the measures for revival of Indian hockey.

My sole objective to make a project report on this topic is to create awareness among my mates and the people, about HOCKEY the sport which the people of our country have forgotten. . People don’t even know the names of hockey players and the tournaments in which the team plays at various levels. We just enjoy watching and gaining knowledge of sports like Cricket, Tennis or Chess that’s it! The point to understand is that Hockey is our national game and we have an immense pride associated with it so we have to watch it, take part in it and support it.

HISTORY

Hockey is one of the many sports derived from pre historic man's delight in stick and ball games. It is a game played between two teams on a field with curved sticks and a small hard ball. Its birth place was Asia and authorities credit Persia with having devised it about 2000BC. Modern hockey was created in . The true ancestor of hockey was Irish hurling. The first hockey club was formed in Blackheath in 1861. The first international match was played in 1895 between England and Ireland. In 1908 hockey was included in the modern . The most extra ordinary aspect of its evolution is that a game once so rough and unruly was adopted by women.

Hockey became popular in India when the British Regiments played the game in India and introduced it in the British Indian Regiments who quickly picked up the game. The first hockey club was formed in Calcutta in 1885-86 followed by Bombay and Punjab. The Bengal Hockey was the first Hockey Association in India founded in 1908. With the popularity of the game, associations were formed in different states like Bombay, Bihar, Orissa and .

Women's hockey Women's hockey developed separately from men's hockey. Women do not seem to have played hockey widely before the modern era. Women's hockey was first played at British Universities and schools, and the first club, Molesey Ladies Hockey Club, was founded in 1887. The first national association was the Irish Ladies Hockey Union in 1894, and though rebuffed by the Hockey Association, women's hockey grew rapidly around the world. This led to the formation of the International Federation of Women's Hockey Associations (IFWHA) in 1927, though this did not include initially many continental European countries where women played as sections of men's associations and were affiliated to the FIH. The IFWHA held conferences every three years, and the tournaments associated with these were the primary IFWHA competitions. These tournaments were non-competitive until 1975. By the early 1970's there were 22 associations with women's sections in the FIH and 36 associations in the IFWHA. Discussions were started about a common rule book. The FIH introduced competitive tournaments in 1974, forcing the acceptance of the principle of competitive hockey by the IFWHA in 1973. It took until 1982 for the two bodies to merge, but this allowed the introduction of women's hockey to the 1980 Olympic Games , where, as in the men's game, The , , and have been consistently strong. National women's team The Indian Women's Hockey Team is the national women's team representing in India. Captain Suraj Lata Devi led the team to the Gold for three consecutive years: during the 2002 Commonwealth Games (the event which inspired the 2007 Bollywood hit film, Chak De India), the 2003 Afro-, and the 2004 Hockey Asia Cup. They were referred to as the assi (Jasjeet) jaisi koi nahi or "Golden girls of hockey," after winning the 2004 Hockey Asia Cup. [10] On 24 April 2008, India lost 2-1 to the during the 2008 Women's Field Hockey Olympic Qualifier. The team was thus eliminated from the Beijing Olympics competition. On 29 April 2008, following the suspension of the Indian Hockey Federation, [3] The Hindustan Times revealed that 16 days before leaving for the games, a report found many of the players to be unfit for international competition. The report was quoted as stating, "Eleven girls are suffering from different injuries and are under treatment and thus not fit for international competition of Olympic qualifying standards." On June 27 2009, India became the first winner of the women's Champions Challenge II in hockey history after they defeated 6-3 in the final in Kazan, Russia.

INDIAN HOCKEY FEDERATION

The Indian Hockey Federation was formed in the year 1925 in , during the Scindia Gold Cup tournament. But it was not active after that.

After the end of the World War 1, the commander of the British Armed forces in India, Field Marshall Birdwood who was in charge of organizing the retreat of the combined Australian and armies after the Gallipoli tragedy proposed a hockey tour to New Zealand in 1926 as a friendship tour. The tour Down Under gave a chance for revival of the Federations and thus began the efforts of consolidating the Indian Hockey Federation as the 's Hockey team toured New Zealand. That was our first-ever foreign tour, and it was a smash hit. And New Zealand made a profit of £300 even after paying India £500. The Indian Hockey Federation gained global affiliation in 1927 and joined the International Hockey Federation (FIH). A national championship between provinces was organized in 1928 at Calcutta to select the Indian team for the Amsterdam Olympics.

Thus began the history of Indian Hockey Federation as India entered the Olympics to begin its golden saga. The Army Hockey team's tour to New Zealand was the first tour undertaken by any Indian team representing IHF. And the players were conscious to project a good image and they had excellent skills that thrilled everyone. The tour was a huge success with India winning 18 of the 21 matches and the legendary was the cynosure of all the eyes scoring over 100 goals of the 192 Indian accounted for.

Then India bagged a hat-trick of gold medals at the Olympics. They began with Amsterdam in 1928 and followed it up with in 1932 and Berlin in 1936.

For both Los Angeles and Berlin India had problems. For LA Games, India was the only entry as the world was hit by economic depression. Then Indian Hockey Federation president AM Hayman motivated by organizing Indian team visit to give them practice and persuaded hosts to enter the fray. So hockey just managed to be in the Olympic field and that gave the world to see the magic of Indian hockey.

Funds were also a problem in the lead-up to the Berlin Olympics in 1936. The first Indian to head the IHF, Jagdish Prasad, managed by collecting Rs 11,376 out of the required sum of Rs 45,000 from royal families.

As such the hockey foundations were laid in the country, thanks to the leadership of stalwarts like Birdwood, Hayman and Jagdish Prasad.

In 1934 after the second Olympic gold, the Indian Hockey Federation inducted two Vice Presidents and a Treasurer. Thus the two member body of President and Secretary got a boost to become a five-member body.

After the Indian Independence in 1947, Naval Tata became the first President of the Indian Hockey Federation of Independent India.

During his tenure, the Indian team achieved another hat-trick of gold medals at the 1948 London Olympics, 1952 Helsinki Games and the Olympics. Then Ashwini Kumar took over from Tata and was at the helm of affairs till 1974 to give way to MAM Ramaswamy.

Later, many presidents including I.M. Mahajan, Raja Bhalindra Singh and R.N. Prasad ruled till K.P.S. Gill took over in 1994.

In this period, India could gain only one gold medal at the Moscow Olympics in 1980 under the captaincy of Mr.V.Baskaran.

Under the present regime with Mr. K.P.S. Gill at the helm, assisted by Mr.K.Jothikumaran as Secretary General India started on a long road back developing hockey at all the age-group levels. Indian teams started winning the regional tournaments at Asian level and IHF is drafting ways to revive the past glory. Indian Hockey Federation S. Period President No 1 1925-1927 Col. Bruce Jurnbull 2 1927-1929 Maj. Burn Murdoch 3 1929-1931 Shri. R. E. Powell 4 1931-1933 Shri. A. M. Hyman 5 1933-1936 Shri. Joseph Bhore 6 1936-1937 Shri. Jagdish Prasad 7 1937-1938 Shri. M. N. Sircar Shri. Muhamad Zafrullah 8 1938-1939 Khan Shri. Khwajasir 9 1939-1945 Nizimuddin 10 1945-1947 Shri. Azizulnaque 11 1947-1958 Shri. Naval H. Tata 12 1958-1975 Shri. Aswini Kumar Shri. M. A. M. 13 1975-1980 Ramaswamy 14 1980-1983 Shri. I. M. Mahajan 15 1983-1985 Shri. Raja Bhpinder Singh Shri. M. A. M. 16 1985-1987 Ramaswamy 17 1987-1994 Shri. R. Prasad 18 1994-2008 Shri. K. P. S. Gill Hockey is the only event in which India has won Gold Medals - 8 of them. Hockey was considered the National Game of India. Unmatched excellence and incomparable virtuosity brought India a string of Olympic gold medals. The brilliant Indians brought a touch of black magic to their play and the ball juggling feats of the Indians were a sheer delight. The Golden Era of hockey in India was the period from 1928 - 1956 when India won 6 consecutive gold medals in the Olympics. During the Golden Era, India played 24 Olympic matches, won all 24, scored 178 goals (at an average of 7.43 goals per match) and conceded only 7 goals. The two other gold medals for India came in the 1964 Olympics and the 1980 Moscow Olympics. In 1956, after India won the last of its six consecutive gold medals, the manager of the hockey team, Riazuddin Ahmed said, "This is the first time that we played India in the Olympics. The next time we play, the result will be different." His prophetic words came true in 1960, when after 28 consecutive victories in the Olympic Games, India lost 0-1 to Pakistan in the 1960 Rome Olympics final. Gold had finally turned to silver and a magical era had ended. Let’s look briefly but closely into the performances by the Indian Men’s hockey team in the Olympics since its introduction in 1928. 1. Amsterdam Olympics of 1928:

The Amsterdam Games became the first stage, for the wizardry of Dhyan Chand. The wizardry was not only meant for the spectators, but also for the opponents, for during several moments, the opponents were like spectators, with sticks and jerseys, as they could only watch Dhyan Chand`s magic and could do nothing about it. He was referred as "The Hockey Wizard" after a sensational feat in the final of the Punjab Indian Infantry tournament in the town of Jhelum. Dhyan Chand then scored three goals in the last four minutes for his side to snatch a dramatic victory. Dhyan Chand was the Star attraction during the Amsterdam games. Richard James Allen, the goalkeeper, did not concede a single goal in the 1928 Olympics. Allen, who kept India`s goal in 3 consecutive Olympics (1928, 1932, 1936), conceded a total of only 3 goals in the 3 Olympics.

India`s record in the 1928 Olympics at Amsterdam: Played: 5 Won: 5 Goals For: 29 Goals Against: 0

2. Los Angeles Olympics of 1932:

The 1932 Olympics witnessed couple of world records created by Indians that still stand unbroken. The biggest score in an international hockey match is the 24-1 victory of India over the USA, played on August 11, 1932. The record for the most number of goals scored in a single hockey match belongs to , who slammed in ten goals in the 24-1 rout of USA. India scored 24 goals in the 1932 Olympics, of which the brothers popularly known as the "hockey brothers" scored 25 of them. They were, Left- in Roopsingh (10) and Centre Forward Dhyan Chand (14). The hockey brothers went on to represent India in the 1936 Olympics also, winning yet another gold medal for India.

In the 24-1 victory against the USA, there is a very amusing tale about the solitary goal scored by the Americans; the defenders had decided to let the Americans have a run, but when they looked behind, there was no goalkeeper. The Indian goalkeeper Richard Allen was signing autographs behind the goal post!

India's record in at Los Angeles: Played: 5 Won: 5 Goals For: 38 Goals Against: 1

3. Berlin Olympics of 1936:

The Indians, this time led by the wizard Dhyan Chand himself, did not receive an altogether pleasant welcome in Germany. Just a day after their arrival in Germany, they lost against a German side, 4-1. India beat 4-0, United States 7-0 and Japan 9-0. Dara joined the team for the 10-0 massacre of in the semi-finals. Indians had not conceded a single goal in their march to the finals.

India met Germany in the final on August 15, 1936. A crowd of around 40,000 people, the biggest crowd till then to witness an Olympic hockey match, had gathered. Among the audience was the ruler of Baroda, the princess of and other Indians who had traveled from the Continent, and of course Hitler, who left the match midway, disgusted at Germany`s plight.

India was up by 6 goals in the finals. The Germans decided to play a rough game and went after Dhyan Chand, which resulted in a broken tooth for the Indian captain, due to the German goalkeeper. Coming back after receiving first aid, Dhyan Chand, now playing barefoot instructed his team to go easy on goals. As the stunned crowd watched, the Indians repeatedly took the ball up to the German circle and then back passed to mystify their opponents. India vanquished Germany 8-1 in the finals to win its third successive Olympic gold medal.

The supreme tribute to Dhyan was by a sports club in Vienna, which built a statue of Dhyan Chand with four hands and four sticks. To the Viennese, no man with two hands and one stick could have played the way Dhyan Chand did.

India's record at Berlin:

Played: 5 Won: 5 Goals For: 38 Goals Against : 1 4. London Olympics of 1948:

A lot of events occurred between the Berlin Olympics in 1936 and the London Olympics in 1948. India got its independence, but suffered a devastating partition, where many Anglo-Indians left the country and a number of Muslims migrated to Pakistan. India lost a rich recruiting ground for hockey talent. A brand new Indian team left for London, without a single player who had played in an earlier Olympics. The captain of the Pakistan hockey team in the 1948 Olympics was A. I. S. Dara who had represented India in the 1936 Berlin Olympics. Besides Dara, Paul Peter Fernandes and Bhopal`s Akhtar Hussain and Latif-ur-Rehman, have represented both India and Pakistan in the Olympics.

India defeated 8-0 in their first match. India followed up this victory by defeating 9-1, 2-0, and Holland 2-1 to enter the finals. India faced England for the first time in an Olympic hockey match on September 12, 1948, at Wembley grounds, in the Olympic hockey final. India defeated Britain 4-0 to win its fourth consecutive gold medal. This medal is extremely special for India, as it is the first gold medal won by India under the Indian tricolour. Balbir Singh Sr. excelled as a centre-forward and scored 2 goals for India, while Pat Jansen and scored the other two.

India's record at London: Played: 5 Won: 5 Goals For: 25 Goals Against: 2

5. Helsinki Olympics of 1952:

India defeated Austria 4-0 and Great Britain 3-1 and stormed to the finals. Holland challenged the Olympics champions but lost 1-6 and India won the hockey crown for the 5th time in a row, in 1952 Olympics held at Helsinki, . Balbir Singh Sr. scored 9 goals of the 13 scored by India, including 5 of the 6 goals in the final. Chinnadorai Desamuthu became the youngest gold medalist for India. He was 19 years and 272 days when India won the Olympic title in the Helsinki Games. India's record at Helsinki: Played: 3 Won: 3 Goals For: 13 Goals Against: 2

6. Melbourne Olympics of 1956:

12 teams were divided into 3 groups in the 1956 Olympics. India won all the group matches, beating Afghanistan 14-0, USA 16-0 and 6-0. When they entered the semi finals India had scored 36 goals in 3 games, with no goals against. India then scraped past Germany with a 1-0 victory in the semi-finals.

For the first time, India met Pakistan, in the 1956 Olympic final. Midway through the second half, India was awarded a penalty corner. The ball was pushed out by Udham Singh and stopped by Raghbir Singh Bhola. Randhir Singh Gentle took the shot. A Pakistani defender failed to trap it cleanly and allowed the ball to trickle over the goal line. This goal turned out to be another gold winner, for the sixth time in a row, until then a record for any country in any team sport in the Olympics. Inside-left Udham Singh scored 15 goals for India in the 1956 Melbourne Olympics - the highest tally by an Indian at an Olympics till that date.

India's record at Melbourne:

Played : 5 Won : 5 Goals For : 38 Goals Against : 0

7. Tokyo Olympics of 1964:

The Tokyo Olympics were the first Olympics to be held on Asian ground. The team went on a two-and-a-half month tour to New Zealand and before heading to Tokyo. In the pool matches, India finished at the top with 12 points. India beat Belgium 2-0, was held to a draw by Germany and Spain, beat 6-0, Malaysia 3-1, 3-0 and Holland 2-1. In the semi- final, India beat Australia 3-1 to set up their third consecutive clash with Pakistan in the Olympic finals. Pakistan had defeated India 1- 0 in the 1960 Rome Olympics, to end India`s Consecutive Olympic victory series.

The final was played on November 23, 1964, at the Kamazawa Park in Tokyo. The first half was played at a scorching pace but no goal was scored. There was an unruly incident with some of the Pakistanis attacking the Indian players. The match was briefly interrupted for the tempers to cool down. The forward line comprising and Joginder Singh was irresistible that day. 5 minutes into the second half, a penalty corner was awarded to India which was taken by India`s `Rock of Gibralter` .

Prithipal had been fantastic in the Tokyo Olympics thus far, and had scored 11 goals. However, this penalty corner was to be his most important. His stinging shot was deflected off the goalkeeper`s pad and stopped by Pakistan`s full back Munir Dar with his foot. Centre-half converted the resultant penalty stroke in the 41st minute to give India a 1-0 lead.

IHF President Ashwini Kumar did the running commentary for Akashvani in the final at Tokyo. Each move forward by India was a potential goal in his eyes. And when Mohinder Lal converted the penalty stroke, a hysterical Ashwini Kumar cried himself hoarse. Pakistan fought back ferociously in the closing stages of the match and gave India many anxious moments. , the Indian goal Keeper, played superbly and magnificently saved two penalty corner hits. India held on to its slender lead to win its seventh gold medal in eight Olympic games. Shankar Lakshman, one of India`s best ever goalkeepers, was declared the Man of the Match.

India's record at Tokyo: Played: 9 Won: 7 Drawn: 2 Goals For: 22 Goals Against: 5 8. Moscow Olympics of 1980:

9 teams from the 1976 Montreal Olympic hockey competition did not compete in the 1980 Moscow Olympic hockey tournament. The boycotting teams included the top 3 teams at Montreal - New Zealand (gold), Australia (silver) and Pakistan (bronze). European hockey powerhouses Germany, Holland and Great Britain also did not compete in this boycott of the 1980 Olympic Games. India had fared very badly in the Montreal Olympics; they had come down to the 7th position. The Moscow Olympics hockey competition was played on Poligras fields laid at the Dynamo and Young Pioneers clubs.

In a greatly weakened field of participants, India thrashed last minute entry Tanzania 18-0 in its first match. India scored 5 goals in 5 minutes. This huge victory over Tanzania was the second biggest score in Olympic hockey, after the 24-1 victory by India over USA in the 1932 Los Angeles Olympics.

India was lucky to get away with a 2-2 draw with Poland in the next game, with Merwyn Fernandes equalizing for India with only 5 seconds to spare. India had another lucky 2-2 draw with Spain, with the equalizer coming in the last 4 minutes. After surviving these hiccups, India beat Cuba 13-0 and hosts USSR 4-2 to come second in the pool (behind Spain) and qualify for the final.

In the final against Spain, India had a rousing start and established a comfortable three goal lead early in the second half. But Spain gamely bounced back into the game with 2 unanswered goals. With Spain raiding the Indian defence, and with only 6 minutes left, Mohammed Shaheed scored a goal. However, with only 4 minutes remaining, Spain scored yet again with their skipper Juan Amat completing his hattrick. The atmosphere in the last few minutes was electric, and India finally won the thriller 4-3, and thus regained the elusive gold after 16 long years. Spain had to be content with the Fairplay Trophy.

The 16 goals scored by centre forward in the 1980 Moscow Olympics is the highest tally by an Indian in an Olympic hockey competition. It beat the earlier record of 15 goals set by the great Udham Singh in the 1956 Melbourne Olympics. India's record at Moscow:

Played: 6 Won: 4 Drawn: 2 Goals For: 43 Goals Against: 9

Mir Ranjan Negi- An important chapter in Indian hockey

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Mir Ranjan Negi is a field hockey player and former goalkeeper of the India national field hockey team. He would later be involved with the development of the 2007 hit film, Chak De India.

1982 Asian Games In the , Negi was the goalkeeper for the India national field hockey team in the final field hockey match against Pakistan. India lost 1-7, which brought "unprecedented humiliation for India in a sporting arena. The nation went into a mourning and Negi into hiding. Negi was accused in some quarters of having conceded those goals." Of the event, journalist Anand Philar stated, "I had covered the 7-1 drubbing Pakistan handed out to India in the 1982 Asian Games final, which turned goalkeeper Negi's life upside down. He was literally pilloried by armchair critics, the media and an ignorant public for letting in so many goals. Some of the tabloids even ran headlines crying out that Pakistan had bribed Negi and that he was a 'traitor.'" In an interview with Philar after the event, Negi stated, "Everywhere I went, was abused by the public. Nothing matters to me more than playing for my country. I am a proud Indian and will always be so. There were lots of things that happened in the run-up to the final. You find out. I will not speak about the politics that contributed to our defeat." Former captain Zafar Iqbal later stated, "The entire team was to blame; we forwards missed chances, the defense left huge gaps that the Pakistanis exploited. Despite making great efforts to cover the gaps, poor Negi became a sitting duck and the Pakistanis scored at will. He was blamed solely, but every player was to blame. The atmosphere was vicious. I remember someone claiming that he had seen Negi come out of the Pakistan High Commission on match eve some even enquired whether Negi, with his first name Mir, was Muslim." Afterwards, he was let go by the Indian Hockey Federation and quit the game for many years.

Later career He returned as a goalkeeping coach for the 1998 Asian Games in which the India national field hockey team won the Gold. This position, however, only proved temporary and he left the game once again. Four years later, Negi was hired to be the goalkeeping coach of the India women's national field hockey team. The team won the Gold at the 2002 Commonwealth Games. [4] He was also the assistant coach for the Women's team when it won the Gold at the 2004 Hockey Asia Cup.[5]

Chak De India Negi would later become involved in the development of the 2007 Bollywood film, Chak De India. The screenplay for Chak De India was written by Bollywood screenwriter Jaideep Sahani. Sahani had read a small article about the winning of the Gold at the 2002 Commonwealth Games by the India women's national field hockey team and thought that the premise would make an interesting film. Negi has often been compared with Kabir Khan in the media. On this connection Negi, himself, would later comment, "This movie is not a documentary of Mir Ranjan Negi's life. It is in fact the story of a team that becomes a winning lot from a bunch of hopeless girls [...] there is nothing called World Championships in international hockey. It would be stupid to believe that Yash Raj Films would pump in Rs.450 million to make a documentary on me. So it's illogical that it is a documentation of my life." Sahani further stated in an interview with : I felt why the girls’ team has been given so little coverage. I shared the idea with Aditya (Chopra). He liked it and said stop everything else and concentrate on it. I started my research by spending time with hockey players [...] It’s just a matter of chance that Negi's story matches with Kabir Khan. There are many cases, like in Columbia, football players are killed for not performing well for the club. I had no idea about Negi’s story while writing the script, and he joined us after the script was ready. In fact, his name was suggested by M.K. Kaushik, who was the coach of the team that won the Commonwealth Games’ gold. On day one, when Negi read the script, he cried and it was then that we came to know about his story. Sahani also stated in another interview with NDTV.com that the script was conceived before he met Negi: "Our script was written a year and a half back. It is very unfortunate that something, which is about women athletes, has just started becoming about Negi. And if you would go and ask Negi, he would probably tell you that he came and read the script that was written a year and a half back, and he started crying. Next day, he came and said look, it had happened to me also." Both Kaushik and Negi did influence the development of the film after being approached by Sahini. Sahini first met with Kaushik and later recalled that, "M K Kaushik and his girls taught us all we knew about hockey. Then he recommended Negi to us, because when we finished writing and finished casting, we needed someone to train the girls. Negi assembled a team of hockey players to train the girls." Kaushik also states in the same interview that, "I taught him everything about the game, starting from how the camp is conducted, how the girls come from different backgrounds and cultures, the psychological factors involved. Also how the coach faces pressure to select girls from different states and teams." Sahini also contacted Negi and asked him to coach the actors portraying the hockey team. While not initially enthusiastic about being involved in the film, Negi changed his mind after reading the screenplay. He acted as the coach and trainer for the cast stating, "I trained the girls for six months. Waking up at 4, travelling from Kandivili to Churchgate. We would retire around 11 in the night. It was tiring. But we were on a mission [...] They couldn’t run; couldn’t hold the hockey sticks. I ensured none of them [would have to] cut their nails or eye-brows (as the players do). The girls have worked very hard. I salute them." Some of the actors however, such as Chitrashi, Sandia, and Raynia were cast because they are actual hockey players. Negi also had to train Shahrukh Khan for the film stating, "I had to plan every hockey move shown in the movie, including the penalty stroke that SRK missed. That shot alone took us nearly 20 hours as I was keen that it should be very realistic. I took the help of a lot of my former teammates. But more importantly, it was so easy working with SRK. He is unbelievably modest and was willing to do as many re-takes as we wanted."

PAST AND PRESENT STATUS OF INDIAN HOCKEY- Gradual decline in the performance of Indian Men’s hockey team

India was once the traditional home of hockey. Other nations were admiring and imitating it. None could vanquish the Indian players. The early history of Indian hockey is a glorious one. It had almost a virtual monopoly. Right from 1928 it won six Olympic gold medals in a row—at Amsterdam (1928), Los Angeles (1932), Berlin (1936), London (1948), Helsinki (1952) and Melbourne (1956). But at the next Olympic Games in 1960 at Rome it had to be satisfied with a silver medal. The golden days of Indian hockey were passing. At the next meet at Tokyo in 1964 it made a herculean effort to regain its lost glory and succeeded in getting gold again. At the next two Olympic meets in City (1968) and (1972), the fall was steeper. It won only bronze. Renewed efforts by the Indian team to go back to the original slot ended in miserable failure. It could not get even bronze at Montreal (1976). It got the 7th rank! What a fall was there, my countrymen moaned the hockey - lovers. The Indian team was enthused to make another attempt at Moscow in 1980. Thank Heavens! India got gold once again. It was the last occasion when the team romped home with gold.

Dismal failures: But the Indian hockey team did not lose hope completely. It is a lesson you should heed. “Try, try, try again” is an old English rhyme. Indians did try again and again, as Los Angeles (1984), Seoul (1988), Barcelona (1992), Atlanta (1996), Sydney (2000) and Athens (2004). This is a long list of dismal failures. The team was placed in the 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th, 7th and 7th ranks respectively. The history of Indian hockey is the story of continuous drift from glory to disgrace. The Olympian Gods of ancient were determined to teach Indians a lesson. Why do these people keep coming back to the Olympics again and again, when it is proved beyond doubt that they are worthless? The Gods might have thought so.

The thousand dollar question is — what went wrong and when? The shortest answer is that it has gone wrong, and has been going wrong over several years. This only makes the story short. But to know the travails of the game one has to go deep into it and analyze the causes. It is a case of missed opportunities and a clear lack of perception and perspective. It is like the dancer who blames the stage floor for her miserable performance. In the next few pages, we shall discuss about factors which led to a steep decline in the performance of Indian hockey teams

CAUSES- 1. Leadership problems India was a free nation when the Olympics resumed after World War II (in 1948), but financial hardships continued. Naval Tata had to use his persuasive skills with Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru to send teams to the 1948 and 1952 Games. His successor Ashwini Kumar went a step further, mortgaging ancestral property to ensure the team participated in Melbourne. For about three decades when these two luminaries ruled Indian hockey, no team returned without an Olympic medal. Ashwini in particular asserted his authority in the FIH and it counted on our on-field successes. But he had to go after finishing second and third respectively at the 1972 Olympics and the 1973 . With the advent of synthetic turf, hockey changed forever. But the first synthetic surface came to India six years after it was introduced. And every time we failed, a scapegoat was found in the artificial surface. But the Montreal Olympics fiasco, where India finished seventh, was not due to synthetic turf — we lost out on a semi-final spot in the tie-breaker. Neither can the surface be blamed for India’s later disasters. We have been just a point away from every Olympic semi-final since 1984, except in 1992 and 2004. The turf was not the reason we missed the 1984 Olympic semi- finals by a whisker, neither for our draw against Poland at Sydney. Equally, our 1998 Asiad and 2003 Asia Cup successes were no flukes. Our failures on the international stage were primarily due to a lack of leadership. The change in playing surface or the rule changes did contribute somewhat, but the moot point is that our leadership could not ensure we moved with the times.

2. Not converting and paying the penalty From the mid 70s to early 90s, India lost in most tournaments because of penalty-corners. Our forwards earned them by the dozens but we missed someone like Prithipal Singh to cash in on them. Our teams swam against the current and drowned. Europe produced an unending stream of PC specialists but we were clueless about grooming our own. Instead, the IHF kept changing coaches.

3. Is Cricket the only ?

Cricket is the only sport that the country follows. I love the game (cricket), or rather use to, as its not the same anymore. The recent auction of players was a clear example of the future of the sport. "I don't understand the game, but I have lot of money, let's go buy some players and see what we get," says some XYZ celebrity. Spending millions of rupees on buying players, a rather ridiculous thing to do in my opinion, when other sports in the country are no where close to where cricket has reached in terms of popularity, media attention etc. Instead pump in some money in other sports, hockey needs it for sure. Other sports are always meted out step-motherly treatment by the government. This is how they are discriminated -

- Cricketers are put up in the best of hotels, while hockey and football players are put up in the stadium itself.

- While cricketers these days get match fees, and hockey players get a mere $30 for expenses.

- Many times players play an entire tournament with just two sets of shirts and shorts, and cricketers, we all know.

4. Rewards Galore for Cricketers, and for hockey players? When the Indian cricket team won the Twenty20 World Cup, they were welcomed like heroes as if they have won a battle and the government (central and state) announced cash rewards of lakhs of rupees for each player. In fact there was competition going on between states in announcing cash rewards for cricketers. During the same time, Indian hockey team won the Asia Cup, and what rewards were given to them? What media coverage was given to them? Hockey is our national sport, cricket is a commonwealth game, which is not even played by several countries.

Irked by this treatment, the then chief coach of the national team, Joaquim Carvalho, planned to go on hunger strike. He said that Sahara had announced a house each for the cricketers but hockey players were not even given a match box. Former Olympian Mervyn Fernandis and himself were offered 'flats' by the Maharashtra government 18 years ago for their outstanding performances in the game, and they are yet to get their flats.

5. Game of the underdog and minorities

There is a unique, stirring quality to hockey as a sport. Some day it will find a Ramchandra Guha to figure out its sociology, but, in so many ways, and like many other speed-contact sports, Indian hockey is the game of the underdog and the minorities. In the Indian subcontinent, Sikhs, Muslims, Christians and now even the Ranchi tribals, have excelled in the game. Dileep Tirkey, 25, and a tribal from Orissa, is our national captain, and he did not need the benefit of any reservation from any Mayawati. Most of us are not even conscious of his very humble tribal origins. Professional sport is the world’s fairest, most level playing field, and thus a social equaliser. Hockey has the potential of becoming an Indian equivalent of European and Latin American football as a socio-economic, ethnic homogeniser in a sporting melting pot. The football world is full of stars who came from nowhere to lead the big league. David Beckham and Rio Ferdinand are East London boys. El Hadji Diouf (Liverpool), was marauding with a street gang in Senegal when talent- scouts found him. If cricket cannot do it as effectively as hockey or football, it is because it still is an upper-class game, requiring facilities, a pitch, gloves and pads, and lots of coaching. It doesn’t have the rough-and-ready character of a contact/speed sport that readily absorbs raw talent and lets it flourish. After all, in which other sports do you see an Oraon or a Munda or a Santhal or a Manipuri becoming the captain of the national team? In hockey, just try to keep them out!

Article courtesy Indian Express, September 7, 2002

6. It happens only in India

IHF has undoubtedly failed to market the game or capitalize on victories, and so has the media and above all the government. Australia, England, , New Zealand etc., play cricket, but do they marginalize other sports. Cricket might be one of the popular sports in the country, but they aren't indifferent to other sportsmen. In fact the Australian cricket team is the best in the world, but do other sports in Australia get neglected in the bargain?

As much as I love India for its natural, scenic beauty, I despise the government and the media who give inane coverage to the cricketers. Don't blame the hockey players for not performing, what incentives do they get to perform?

Sum other loopholes or drawbacks which are leading to the decline of hockey are as following:-

1) Very few cadre from school

2) Very few international and domestic level competitions.

3) No participation of departments at state level. 4) No encouragement to youth.

5) No more grounds left for practice.

6) No more job facility.

INDIAN TEAM FAILING TO QUALIFY FOR THE 2008 BEIJING OLYMPICS

First time in 80 years India not playing in Olympics, Hard to digest, any one who follows hockey in India know that Indian hockey is running low for past several years, But this is Shocker of a news to hear eight time gold medalist failed to qualify to play in Beijing Olympics. The team lost to Britain 2-0 in the final of the qualifying tournament at Santiago, . It was the first time ever that India was facing this ignominy. They had made it to every Olympic ames since making a triumphant debut in 1928. Britain gold medalists in 1988 scored two early goals and shattered the hopes of every Indian hokey fan, looking for a revival under coach Joachim cavalho. Indian Hockey in Chaos: IHF Secretary caught accepting bribe in sting operation

No, it is not KPS ‘super cop’ Gill who came under media scrutiny this time but his secretary K Jothikumaran who has been blamed for another debacle in Indian hockey. Indian Hockey Federation secretary K Jothikumaran’s destiny didn’t favour him for the first time in past 14 years and the camera caught him demanding and taking bribe to select hockey player in national side. The power of money, not the performance, was the basis of the selection of the Hockey player to play in next tournament. There were some rumors about such shady deals involving him but it has been proved now and the man, second most powerful person in IHF, has been exposed by a sting operation. People have seen him on TV channel taking money to get a player selected for the Azlan Shah Cup to be held at in May. It gives an impression that Indian Hockey is in hands of monsters and struggling to stay alive in the country. Jothikumaran has been IHF Secretary for 14 years and he, along with K P S Gill, has been blamed for Indian hockey’s decline over the last couple of decades. The channel showed Jothikumaran receiving Rs 2 lakh and claimed that after 4-5 days he confirmed the selection of the player in the list of probables for Azlan Shah Cup tournament. Later, former hockey player remembered how Jothikumaran had selected Adam Sinclair to play in the 2004 Athens Olympic. He claimed that Sinclair did not know how to hit the ball and coach Gerard Rach taught him thrice a day the basics of the game. For KPS gill, this is not a serious matter. He was looking non-committal when asked about any investigation or inquiry against his secretary. He said: The channel have shown him taking money. We have to look into the seriousness of the allegations. Probes, inquiries are different things. Former India captain said on the matter: We have been hearing about it for a long time. This is a shocking thing to have happened. He should be immediately sacked and a criminal case should be lodged against him. It is a great shame, that has brought the downfall of hockey and Jothikumar and Gill should be shown the door.

Who is K Jothikumaran – He was an obscure hockey player in university- level game. He worked as a clerk with the State Bank of India. His rise to power in IHF has been phenomenal and he became the second-most powerful man in Indian hockey. Former IHF president MAM Ramaswamy favored Jothi’s selection into the hockey officialdom in early 90s. Since then, one time SBI clerk opened a chain of hotels in Madurai. He even supported Gill’s entry into IHF in 1994 and Gill rewarded him with the post of Secretary in Federation. He is the member of International Hockey Federation’s Development & Coaching Council. He is country’s key man at all international forums, including Indian Olympic Association, , Asian Games and FIH. Finally, the coordinator of FIH’s ‘Revive Indian Hockey’ project damaged the infrastructure of India’s national game.

RESIGNATION OF KPS GILL He has been the chief of the Indian Hockey Federation for 14 long years, and he doesn't find the need to resign. An alcoholic, Gill has failed miserably in his despotic tenure; his collisions with the players are well known. Post defeat, Gill was quoted as saying, "I will not resign. We do not have a machine that you can get results instantly. We've put the process in place and the results will take some time." How often has he said that, I remember doing a piece on the state of hockey in India in 2003, and five years down the line, nothing has changed?

Political leaders join chorus against K.P.S. Gill (PTI): Political leaders on Monday joined the chorus against Indian Hockey Federation President K P S Gill and demanded his removal in the wake of India's failure to qualify for the Beijing Olympics. CPI Member of Parliament Gurudas Dasgupta was the most vociferous in his demand for Gill's head, saying it was high time that he was "thrown out" from his post. "It's a matter of shame that we could not qualify for the Olympics. I know that there have been a number of complaints against the IHF President. There is nobody in the country to look after the sport," he said. On whether Gill should resign from his post, Dasgupta said, "I do not want him to resign. I want him to be thrown out, just to be kicked out." Fellow CPI leader D Raja said, "It's a matter of shame that not only in hockey, the second most populated country is not competent enough in other sports as well. "(There is need to) evolve a comprehensive sports and games policy so that all sports and games are promoted equally and money must be allocated adequately," he said. Meanwhile, Congress MP Rahul Gandhi, who is on the tour of Orissa, said he received several complaints about the "unfair" selection process prevailing in hockey. "I went to a tribal academy for hockey players and one of the biggest complaints was that the selection process is unfair and the players who are actually good do not get access to the facilities," he said.

Sports Minister MS Gill asked Indian Hockey Chief KPS Gill today to quit after the shameful act of taking bribe by IHF general secretary K Jyothikumaran, who had resigned after the incident, is exposed on Monday.

“In full consideration of the situation facing Indian Hockey, and the national need, I urge him, to consider withdrawing from his current responsibility. It is time to let other Indians, make an attempt, to lift our

hockey,” he said. Endorsed by the incident of taking bribe of Rs 2 lakhs by Jyotikumaran last night for selection of player in senior hockey team the

minister said, “he(Jyotikumaran) should also step down to restore faith in the hockey establishment.”

MS Gill was hurt by this unfortunate incident in the

Indian Hockey.

Everyone is criticizing the Indian Hockey and the corruption going inside the national game. Who is the real culprit? How to expose the corrupt people behind the scene? Some former players are pointing to KPS Gill and blaming him for all that happenings. “Jyothikumaran is not the only one to be blamed as the real culprit is

Gill, who is exploiting the Indian hockey for many years now,” Former Hockey player said. Another former Olympian Baljit Singh Dhillon said there had always been “an unnecessary interference” of officials in team selection and advocated the change in regime at the IHF. “Gill and Co has ruined the Indian hockey in last 14 years. Lone ouster of Jyothikumaran would not help but there has to be a complete change of regime with a former player being handed over the reins,” he said. The issue is subjected in also. The members asked criminal proceedings against the responsible people behind the corruption in IHF. “The Indian Olympic Association and the government should initiate an inquiry into the matter and punish the corrupt,” said VK Malhotra, deputy leader of the (BJP) in the Lok Sabha. “Such people should be publicly hanged,” said Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) MP Ilyas Azmi.

Today hockey, our national game, is in such a bad shape because of these people. “

The minister said, “Since yesterday, I have agonized long over the IHF. It’s recent disaster in Chile is still fresh in every Indian mind. Now, trust and faith in fair selection is shaken. I believe, in the totality of the situation, the IHF President must also introspect and review his position.” After this shameful controversial exposure of the corruption in IHF there is no trust left in selection procedure for the hockey team now. All faith and hopes are shattered. Our national game is disgraced. This is the embarrassing situation for every Indian! Spaniard Jose Brasa- India's New Hockey Coach

Jose Brasa has been appointed as the new coach of the Indian hockey team. He will remain the coach of the hockey team till 2010 Asian Games in Guangzhou.

The contract with the Spaniard may be extended further after the quarterly assessment. Apart from him, the hockey team will also get David Terez of Spain as physical trainer. Jose Brasa will be paid $111,415 per year as remuneration while Terez will get $79,600. A senior International Hockey Federation (FIH) master coach, Jose Brasa also led the Spanish women's team that won a gold medal at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics.

After the resignation of Joaquim Carvalho as Indian hockey coach on March last year, the team was without a permanent coach. Joaquim Carvalho relinquished his job after the Indian hockey team failed to qualify for the 2008 Beijing Olympics. After Carvalho departure, Australian Ric Charlesworth took over as the technical adviser of the team for a brief period. Charlesworth also left the job after having differences with Indian sports ministry and hockey officials. Currently, Harendra Singh is mentoring the hockey team.

Can Brasa revive Indian hockey?

After being down in the dumps since failing to qualify for the Olympics for the first time since 1928, the Indian men's hockey team is aiming to resurrect itself under the guidance of Spaniard Jose Brasa. The first step in the bid to revive the sagging fortunes of the country's national game, is the four-nation European tour that the team has now embarked on under new chief coach Brasa. Brasa advice to Indian hockey to forget about the country's past glory, signified by its eight Olympic gold medals till 1980, would not have gone down well with the hockey stalwarts of the past. The Spaniard's pointed reference that hockey in India is content to rest on laurels earned almost three decades ago and that its players have not adapted to the amended international rules are bitter pills to swallow for the hockey fans. "Indian hockey seems to be living in the past. My task is to ensure that they [players] change their pattern of play to produce better results," were his words before departing for Europe to play 12 Test matches against higher ranked teams England, Belgium, Spain and Netherlands. Brasa has been brought in to pilot Indian hockey back to the pinnacle of glory it enjoyed before the prolonged slump that resulted in the team's failure to qualify for last year's Beijing Olympics. The slide down the pecking order for Indian hockey, which has now resulted in the country being ranked outside the top 10 among men, has been gradual but the powers that be were indifferent to what lay in store for too long. The slump started much before the advent of the artificial turf in 1976, but the World Cup triumph of 1975 in Kuala Lumpur made the authorities turn a blind eye to the reality that while the western countries progressed, India remained stagnant. The Olympic gold in the boycott-hit 1980 Moscow Olympic Games also came as a false dawn and the deepening crisis manifested itself when India finished with the wooden spoon by ending up 12th in the 1986 Willesden World Cup. Since then it has been one disaster followed by another and a litany of excuses in the Olympics and World Cups barring the 1998 title triumph after 22 years at the Bangkok Asian Games which was spearheaded by the mercurial Dhanraj Pillai. A largely non-functional federation with the president and secretary clinging to their posts even as the national team continued to plumb the depths was poor advertisement for the game among the masses. The final nail on the coffin came when the team failed to get past Britain and clinch the lone Beijing Games qualifier's berth at the tournament in Chile in early 2008. The backlash and the sting operation that followed led to the ouster of IHF president K P S Gill and secretary K Jothikumaran from the precincts of hockey power and to the formation of an adhoc body to run the game by the Indian Olympic Association. Further pressure applied by a concerned International Hockey Federation (FIH) with threats to take away the hosting rights of next year's World Cup and bar the team's entry in international tournaments resulted in the launch of a unified men's and women's body . All these are administrative happenings which will not cut much ice with the public unless the team returns to its long-forgotten winning ways in the hockey like Olympics, World Cups, Asian Games and Champions Trophies. 2010 is a crucial year to chart the progress of the team with the March World Cup to be followed by the October Commonwealth Games and the subsequent Asian Games in Guangzhou, China. It's up to Brasa to whip the team into a win-hungry outfit that's capable of taking on the best in the world. CRICKET AND HOCKEY COMPARED–

The heading is ok. But the point is that why are we comparing a game like Hockey with Cricket? This is due to the fact that Cricket is undoubtedly India’s most popular sport today. And we have to compare it with Hockey which is in such dire straits. This is to reflect the inequality of the attention being given to various sports in India. One set of sportspersons are earning millions while the others are earning in thousands.

Cricket: India’s Only Sport

Cricket is truly is a religion in India. Lives are put on hold and priorities are revised. Work hours are shortened, family functions are rescheduled and study breaks are longer: all in the name of the ‘match’. Scores are recited like the alphabet and players are worshiped like idols. The insanity has reached such a level and created such a breed of fanatics that cricketers themselves as well as their homes require guarded security.

It is indeed unfortunate that in a country as diverse as ours, a single sport gains so much focus, while others are left to merge in the background. The obsession can, to an extent, be blamed on the quintessential Indian mentality: cricket is life, all else will follow. The commercialization of the sport only adds to the madness. It has quite literally become a money- making racket, with film stars and industrialist pumping money into what can now safely be called the ‘cricket industry’. The bidding for players at the IPL (Indian Premier League) further proves my point. Almost obnoxious sums of money were being shelled out in order to bid for players. In fact, some of the lowest bids at the IPL 2008 are the same figures at the funds at disposal to certain other sports for a whole year!

Hockey, at least on paper, is said to be our national sport. Although it did attain the pinnacle of glory during Dhyanchand’s time, one barely hears of any laurels that the sport has achieved in the recent past. In fact, 8 of the 9 gold medals India has won at The Olympics have been in field hockey; all of them before 1980.

The problem now lies not in the lack of talent, but in the simple fact that there is a lack of a proper cultivation of the sport. Most, if not all funds, are directed towards cricket with very little infrastructure left for the rest. People refrain from taking up any other sport professionally simply because it is not lucrative enough.

Apart from the financial aspects, we lack in the basic level encouragement of any sport other than cricket. As , All-England badminton champion puts it, “A cricketer bags an Arjuna Award after playing for two years. But it is not so, when it comes to a sportsman from another field. This is not right.”

The government, politicians and authorities alike almost appear to condone our near-dismal performance in other sports. When the cricket team performs poorly, all hell breaks loose. As far as all other arenas are concerned, we are so used to poor performances that we have gradually become indifferent to them.

This doesn’t mean to say that we see no talent from any other sport. 2008 witnessed win the Olympic gold medal for shooting and the country won two medals for boxing as well. , and have all proved their mettle in tennis. But credit is due only to their families, coaches and well-wishers, certainly not to any Indian sports authority. The same is the case with chess player Vishwanathan Anand and several other accomplished sportspersons in the country.

It is time the authorities and the public alike move on from their cricket- mania and focus on catapulting other sports to the forefront as well. More establishments providing infrastructure and encouragement are the need of the hour. If we as a nation are proud of our respect for diversity, it is high time we show it in this field too.

Why Just Cricket?

The two sports that have dominated the minds of Indians for more than a century are Cricket and Hockey. Unfortunately, the success that cricket was able to sustain in terms of popularity in the Indian sports scenario could not be replicated by hockey. The reasons for this are two fold. One, the achievements or victories that an Indian sports team garners in international tournaments is a strong factor in keeping the sport alive. Cricket in this context has it relatively easy as there are only a handful of nations that play the game (mainly the British colonies). Thus the competition isn’t as severe as other sports. Secondly, the physical stamina and capability required to play cricket is also lesser than other sports. Both these factors have played a major role in the popularity of cricket and the current crisis faced by the national sport.

After the domination of field hockey by India in the Olympic Games (gold medals from 1932 – 1956 and then in 1964 and 1980.), there were a large number of changes in regulations, including the use of synthetic pitches, which made the game more physical and thus immediately put the more skilful Indians at a disadvantage. The high cost of artificial turf also helped in ending the reign of Indian hockey. Hence these changes allowed physically and financially stronger European teams like Australia, Netherlands and Germany to challenge the superiority of the subcontinent. This drastically reduced the number of wins in international tournaments leading to a fall in popularity of hockey in India.

Indians now watch the one sport where they still have a good chance of wining. Armed with a massive market of cricket enthusiasts, India now leads the evolution of the game by its full fledged support for the new twenty- twenty avatar. The fact that BCCI is financially stronger than the biggest football clubs in the world is evidence enough of India’s importance in keeping the sport economically viable.

Hockey might be the national game but cricket rules our minds and hearts. Unfortunately, or shall we say thanks to the pathetic sports administrators, there is a lack of level playing field for the two sports to compete for the attention of viewers or sponsors. The imbalance can be guaged by the fact that there is a sports channel dedicated to cricket, whereas most of the viewers are not even aware of when or where the next Hockey tournament of which India is a part will be held. The cricketers deserved all the praise they got, they played superbly. And initially the rewards too made sense, since most of them came from the BCCI. But what started like a small party began to look a gaudy wedding of a millionaire’s son/daughter…the likes of which we keep reading about in newspapers every now and then. Chief Ministers of different states lost no time in announcing huge rewards to the cricketers from their states with the obvious intention of cashing in on the opportunity to gain attention. Even the Telangana Rashtra Samiti announced rewards! While the TRS can be excused–it most probably used its own black-money- filled cauffers–what reason do the other parties in power have to spend the tax payer’s money in this manner? I don’t think many people want to know answers to these questions. They are just too lost in the T20 euphoria and once this euphoria dies down, they won’t worry about it anyway. At least the Hockey team has raised a voice.

Sports in India have gained a special kiosk, especially, Cricket which is commercialized for good and even for bad. If this is the sport which people love the most, then, no harm in making it richer, as people enjoy and players earn their purse strings but if game is turned to a market place of buyers and sellers, then spectators have no role to play. They feel useless. IPL may have attracted viewers seeking for entertainment but the passion which shows when India-Pakistan match takes place, was missing. Its an outright three hours of amusement minus the jingoism. We have to maintain the pride of nationality in this sport, lets stride and make it national in the real sense of the word. So, that we are proud to address it with the title we do at present. This is only possible, if we enthuse our souls with the ethics of sports. Be it Hockey or Cricket, its not time to fight but to maintain the dignity of play and let them share their deserving and recognized space. They are the sports of the same region. These two field sports in India are at different levels altogether. One hitting with bats and other dodging with sticks. One thriving on bed of roses and other pricking thorns from it, failing to recognize it as a part of rose.

A Layman's Solutions to the revival of Indian Hockey It is indeed sad to see Indian Hockey ailing at the moment. For people who have grown up on a stapled diet of Cricket, this dismal performance at the Olympic qualifiers may not turn heads. But nevertheless hockey being our national pride with a glorious past, this result would turn old timers even in their grave. For the better part of Eight decades the country has fed off the achievements on the Hockey field. From memory we can recall giants like Dhyan Chand, Pargat Singh,Zafar Iqbal, , Jude felix, Mukesh kumar, Dhanraj pillay etc. Our last Olympic win came in Moscow in 1980 under the leadership of V. Bhaskaran. After 28 years we have for the first time plunged to the depths of sorrow and despair.

In this hour of crisis, questions are being thrown in, opinions are warranted and heads are asking to be guillotined and the proverb “Success has many fathers, Failure is an orphan” holds true. People wanted the controversial IHF president KPS Gill thrown out. Others have asked for a complete revamping. Some wanted Team strategist Rick charles worth at the helm, others suggested him out and some others wanted to know why he was not part of the contingent at Chile. Already Joaquim carvalho the Hockey coach has quit. Everyone has an opinion, but not many solutions. Shiv Kera the suave management guru said “If you are not part of the solution, then you become part of the problem”. What is the root cause of this disease that ails the hockey system and how can we stem the rot. I feel the following five points might make some sense to a few people,

1. For too many years the IHF has been running the sport like a typical government organization with little transparency and virtually zero accountability. We need a more professionally managed system. Take a cue from the working lines of the BCCI. Some things are hard to digest but also equally hard to ignore. Cricket has immensely benefited from Professionalism, Suave marketing and advertising and plenty of money. Try to hype the game without leaving any stone unturned or effort spared. We need Business development managers like a Lalit Modi, the IPL boss and we can certainly do away with autocrats like KPS Gill.

2. There is a lot of talent lying idle because they have been sidelined for reasons best known to the administrators. Former players of the calibre of Bhaskaran, Jude Felix, Mohammed Shahid, Mukesh kumar, Dhanraj pillay can make a lot of difference. Their hairs may have gone grey but they still have the passion and stomach for a fight and above all they still have plenty of pride. Involve them on professional terms and respect their inputs in motivation and strategy. Presently they are mute spectators hogging the limelight only as critics. We need to turn them around into strategists and coaches. 3. Scan the length and breadth of the country scouting for younger players and nurture them without any regional bias and prejudice which is the present order. When we can find Ishant sharma,RP singh, Joginder singh, Praveen kumar, Munaf patel in a land alien to fast bowlers why can't we find talent from a sport like hockey which is seeped in Indian tradition and history. Search with a soul and you will find plenty.

4. Popularize the game. Easily said than done I guess. But find out from countries like Australia or where there is a large following for the game. We need to weed out people from the cricket centric citizens that we have become. Again take a leaf out of the working methodologies of the BCCI and try to build a synergy which could galvanize the sport with the youth of this country. The role of the media in this regard has to be very constructive.. All their efforts seem to be drawn towards concentrating on promotion, publicity and coverage of cricket. When the Indian cricket team won the Twenty20 tournament, they were awarded lavish bungalows, cash prizes and treated like heroes. But does anyone even remember the amount of coverage that was given to the hockey team at that time which one the Asia cup? On the other hand, the media is quick to call our national sport a shame. Cricket seems to be the only sport that everyone follows. So the media needs to be responsible for everything they display on their channels. The hockey federation in India should gain knowledge of marketing their sport from the BCCI who have capitalized on the Twenty20 auctions and even the ‘chak de’ theme. (Ironically, every sport seems to have benefitted from it except for hockey on which it was actually based)

5. It is popular perception that foreign coaches can make a lot of difference. At the same time we must respect our traditional style of play which has its own flavor. But we also understand that the sub continental game has thrived for long on individual brilliance and technique. Hassan sardar of Pakistan, Mohammed shahid were masters of stick work. But we are yet to work cohesively as a team which is the hallmark of teams like Germany and Australia. Hence we need people at the helm who will ring in the changes modern hockey requires without keeping the natural flavor out of the equation.

For all the above mentioned changes to take any concrete shape, we as the fans, critics and spectators should also take responsibility for this grave situation and feel for our players and the game. We have to pledge ourselves to improving viewer ship of the sport and support the game as a national cause. There is lot of pride still left in Indian Hockey. We should be avid philanthropists and patronize the game to help it overcome its present ills. Let us at least ensure that Santiago will not repeat itself at any time in our future. It is indeed heart breaking.