Why Indian Hockey winning an Olympic Gold might be the most fitting tribute to Mohd. Shahid

Shahid, the dribbling genius

Mohd. Shahid, the dribbling stalwart and legend of Indian hockey passed away recently at an untimely age of 56. He leaves an irreplaceable gap in the illustrious history of hockey. A part of the team that was the last of the Golden Generation of Hockey in India, Shahid will always be fondly remembered by those who knew and played alongside him.

As he passed away a few weeks ago, the entire sporting community of India and the country as a whole mourned his loss. He was an inspiration not only to the young hockey players of his time but cricketers like Sachin Tendulkar and MS Dhoni also turned out to be his ardent fans. It was a sad moment as the last shining star of a wonderfully medal-laden era seemed to fade out. Now seems to be the perfect time to bring back the spotlight firmly on Indian hockey once more so that legends such as Shahid are never truly forgotten.

As the Indian contingent heads into the Rio Olympics, there’s reason to hope for a gold medal in hockey courtesy the promising performance of our boys at the Champion’s Trophy notching up a first ever silver medal finish. The narrow defeat in the finals at the hands of Australians didn’t seem to hurt much and we can surely expect them to do one better at the Olympics.

Mohd. Shahid was part of the last elite Indian Hockey squad to win a Gold medal at the highest stage. In a decorated career spanning close to a decade, the Olympic Gold at the 1980 Moscow Games remains his crowning achievement. Indian Hockey seems to have taken a downward turn since then. But we have all the reasons to hope for a better performance from the Men in Blue this time around.

Shahid gave up almost all his contact with Indian hockey on retirement. The little that he used to follow on television, he disliked, complaining about the style and quality of play that was being passed off in the name of the sport. The sport and the federation had not forgotten him in spite of that. He was one of those lucky few whose legend and genius was celebrated in his lifetime and followed him to his grave. Claiming an Olympic Gold after 36 years will be the final way to renew the faith of thousands of fans and ex-players like him.   

Shahid’s typical attacking style of play, coupled with his tendency to dodge, feint and dribble his way out of a crowd of defenders is an art long lost to the sands of time. Although India have not been putting up a great defensive performance(ending the Champions Trophy with a negative goal difference), the attacking prowess gives us hope that the aggressive way is back and here to stay.

Can Sreejesh win a medal for Shahid?

Shahid served as the captain of the team for a period between 1985-86. It has been argued that for a player of his calibre, this was too short a stint as captain. Same goes for Sreejesh who, it seemed, would be doomed to be one example of ‘the best captain India never had’ for the longest time. But having been handed the captain’s armband finally, he has the chance to prove his leadership prowess for himself and the legion of unproved captains like Shahid who had it in them to go the distance

India won its last Olympic Gold in hockey in 1980 at the Moscow Olympics. Till that point of time, hockey was the flagbearer of Indian sports to the world on the Olympic platform. We were the world-beaters, conquerors wherever we went, clinching a Gold in every other competition. That glory of Indian hockey has been long lost. This was not helped by the Indian Cricket team winning the 1983 World Cup soon after, thus shifting the spotlight to cricket.

It has been downhill since, for Indian hockey as cricket, a sport played by 14 nations has been championed by the public, helped by wonderful performances of the national team while the Indian hockey team has languished around in the world rankings and competitions. It is perhaps time to bring back the lost glory of this once-popular sport. Not only will it help bring more youngsters into the sport but its time India again got a few sporting idols like Shahid, outside of cricket.