Indian hockey's journey over the last three decades

Indian hockey’s story in the last 3 decades is full of ups and downs.

I am proud to have born in a village near the city of Balata (Punjab), a small town almost 40 kms away from the Indo-Pak border and the city is famous for producing all kind of cast iron machinery. On top of that, the city is famous for producing hockey stars like Surjeet Singh, Mukhbain Singh, Balbir Singh and many more legends. The most recent one was Prabhjot Singh who carried Indian flag, serving hockey team as the right forward for years.

Hockey is in my blood and I still remember the humiliation Indian team went through after their defeat in the 1982 Asiad finals. I was just 8 years old at that time and I still remember the sight where Indian goalkeeper Mir Ranjan Negi (he used to play without a helmet) was on top of the circle, completely dodged by the Pakistani forward during one of the 7 goals scored by the Pakistanis. The last thing we all witnessed was a very feeble push by captain Zafar Iqbal while taking a penalty stroke. It was a terrible feeling watching that hockey match. Fortunately, there was a power cut in our locality during the match and we didn’t witness the complete mockery of Indian hockey by the Pakistan team in India. India lost 7-1 in the final and Pakistani players weren’t ready to go back to their dressing room even after lengthy celebrations.

Then India won the cricket World Cup next year and me, my brother and other people from the locality were jumping all around and cheering for the Indian cricket team. We started following cricket more than hockey as the Indian hockey team was left clueless in the know-how of modern hockey for decades in the coming World Cups and Olympic Games, a sport of which they were once masters.

I hardly remember a hockey match which left a lasting impression on our memories and made us talk about the Indian hockey team later. I do remember only one match where India drew with Germany 5-5 by scoring 4 goals in last 10 minutes. I do not remember which tournament it was, but still remember that the match was played around 3AM in the morning and all of us from my locality watched it together.

Zafar Iqbal

We were so excited to watch hockey all the time, but were left more or less disappointed with the Indian team’s performance after every match. Hoping that something good will happen the next time, we still watched it with much interest and excitement but returned talking about how the team could have performed better. There were always the same problems – our forwards always dribbling the ball too much (trying to become heroes in front of the crowd), missing chances in front of the goal, hardly converting any of the penalty corners, players getting complacent/tired towards the end of the match and even throwing away matches within our grasp.

Although hockey was struggling during this period, we were still able to find some stars during these times, like Dhanraj Pillay, Pargat Singh, Mohammad Shahid, Zafar Iqbal and many more. There was talent in hockey but there was no plan to put everything in place and mould it into a winning unit. Me and my brother used to cut out the photographs of the hockey stars from Punjabi Tribune (a daily newspaper) and paste it on the electricity switch panels in our house. Our love was always there for hockey and for the players playing the sport, but it was not getting the respect it deserved from the Indian hockey team.

Not much changed or improved till 2000, with the exception being the Asian games gold medal which India won in 1998 at Bangkok on Penalty strokes in the finals. I personally feel that this was the first step towards better things for Indian hockey. I felt that we were at least better than the green shirts from next door.

Then the things started changing in the positive direction. India won the Hockey Junior World Cup in 2001 and almost all the players from that team made the transition to the senior side in next couple of years. Indian hockey saw the new talents of Gagan Ajit, Parabhjot, Kavalpreet and Deepak Thakur and on the top of it, we found a gutsy fullback named Jugraj Singh, who had the confidence of scoring goals through penalty corners. In addition to the young blood in the team, experienced stars like Dhanraj Pillay, Dilip Tirkey and Baljit Dhillon were also part of the team.

For the first time in my life, I saw an Indian hockey player who had the confidence, power, skill and passion to score goals through drag flicks while taking penalty corners. The sight of Jugraj scoring via a drag flick and kissing his necklace which carried picture of God, is still very fresh in my memory. It was a great feeling, watching coach Rajinder Singh with the young squad, trying to change the face of Indian hockey and moving in the right direction. I still remember the match played between India and Pakistan during the Champions trophy in 2003. India won the match with great authority. The penalty corners were converted by Jugraj, followed by a spectacular goal by Gagan Ajit with a reverse flick. It was great satisfaction in watching such a young team which was hungry for goals and wins. I personally took this victory as a sweet revenge for the 1982 Asiad games final.

Jugraj Singh

Bad luck again hit Indian hockey a few months after this victory. Jugraj met with a serious accident in 2003 and was out of action after that. He got multiple fractures on his legs and hips and wasn’t able to wield the hockey stick with the same perfection. Indian hockey changed direction again. Rajinder Singh left the team and we again started fumbling, with short term coaches from Germany and Australia employed by the administrators. But they could do nothing for our team.

Sandeep Singh came as a substitute for Jugraj after 2003 but he was too young. Bad luck struck again and he too got a bullet injury while travelling in a train in 2006. I think that India missed a berth in Beijing Olympics due to these two accidents only, where the 2 best drag flickers of the country had accidents in a short span of 3 years.

There were lot of good players in Indian hockey, but there was no one who could take it to the next level, to help us start winning games and tournaments. Jose Brasa signed a contract with Indian hockey and tried his best to bring Indian hockey forward. I would say that he was able to make a positive impact on Indian hockey. Coaching an Indian team with all the issues like poor funding, players’ disappointments, administrative strikes, clouds over the leadership etc. was always a tough ask and a challenge for the new coach. Jose tried his best and at least made sure we did not go further down the drain.

And now, Michael Nobbs took over as the coach of Indian hockey team. The first thing he had to handle was the sudden disappearance of Sandeep Singh and Sardar Singh from the national camp citing some “personal reasons”. The people concerned stepped in and fortunately, we have these two players still with the team and they were at their best during the Olympic qualifiers. The next issue was when players refused to accept the meagre cash award of Rs. 25000 after winning the Asian Champions Trophy.

I had watched all matches played by Indian hockey team during the Olympic qualifiers. The final was the best without a doubt. Although France is not one of the strong teams in the world, all of us must remember that even beating France was a struggle for us over the last few decades.

When was the last time we saw an Indian team scoring 6 out of 7 penalty corners? How many of us noticed over-dribbling during any of the matches? How many of us witnessed a sight during the whole tournament where Sardar had lost the possession of the ball? Didn’t we see long feeder passes by Sardar Singh to the flanks? I am not sure how many of us appreciate the speed and skills of S V Sunil and Gurvinder Singh Chandi on the right flank. Once Sandeep was out, Raghunath did well to score from the lone penalty corner he got a chance at. Had any of us even imagined about India receiving fair play award before the tournament? Fair play comes from the cool headed players, doesn’t it? Did we appreciate the passion with which the players were reciting the national anthem before each match and during the final presentation ceremony?

The Indian team moved as a unit. Did anyone notice that Sardar Singh sent Shivendra Singh and Bharat Chetri to collect the glittering cup during the presentation ceremony, despite it being his right to collect it as the captain? Did he not elevate himself in the fans’ eyes and show much more maturity that expected? How many of us noticed Jugraj Singh kissing the cup as the penalty corner coach of the team?

I am really trying to forget what happened during Olympics. It was a bad dream, let’s come out of it. After a bad Olympics performance, India played beautifully during the FIH Champions trophy in Australia and Asian Champions Trophy in Doha a few months back.

I am following Hockey India League these days and the games are simply fantastic. Personally, I had great satisfaction for Sardar Singh’s success in the league, as this may be the first major win for a player of his calibre. I am sure a lot of players’ game will nourish from HIL and it will make the job easier for coach Michael Nobbs when he picks the national team next time. I wish this league becomes huge and continues throughout the year, just like English Premier League or other soccer leagues in Europe.

For me, a die-hard fan of Indian hockey, it is a dream come true, watching this team and this phase which Indian hockey is witnessing.  I wish this dream continues till the next World Cup or Olympics and the team comes back with a gold medal in their kitty. We have not won an Olympics medal or World Cup trophy on the Astroturf till now, but can we win it in future? It’s too early to say, but if green shirts can win World Cup on AstroTurf, then why can’t the blue shirts win an Olympics medal? Floris Jon Bovlender took Holland to World Cup victory single handedly during the 1990 World Cup. Who’s to say that Sandeep/Raghunath/Rupinder Pal Singh can’t do the same for Indian hockey?