Zafar Iqbal: Olympic gold medalist, civil engineer and Indian Airlines executive director
When Zafar Iqbal was approached for this feature, he chucked and said, “Humara kaun sa feature? Feature kya, future maloom nahin (What feature on us? Our future is not sure. We are the 'gone' people.)"
A legend of Indian hockey, Iqbal was an integral part of the team that won gold in the 1980 Moscow Olympics. Aside from excelling in the field of hockey, he is also a qualified civil engineer and a retired Executive Director of Indian Airlines.
Excerpts from our exclusive interview with Zafar Iqbal:
How did you get into the game of hockey?
In those days, hockey was quite popular and played everywhere, like cricket is today. We belonged to Aligarh and my father was a professor in the Aligarh Muslim University (AMU). It used to have a good hockey team.
Initially, I used to play football and was also made captain of the school team. But around 1969-70, I made a shift to hockey. My father’s colleague Prof. Khan, who was a big hockey enthusiast, probably saw something in me and asked me to focus on hockey. He also invited me to the university ground, where I became a ball picker first. It was during this time that I started practicing seriously.
Who was your mentor in the initial years?
Swami Jagan Nath, the manager of the team at the 1936 Berlin Olympics, was the coach at AMU and I learnt a lot from him. He would invite top players and coaches from across the country. He used to say that your confidence should be such that once you have the ball, nobody can take it from you.
It is rare to find a hockey player with a civil engineering degree. What prompted you to take it up?
The atmosphere in the AMU campus was inclined towards academics and my father was strict. He had made it clear that if I wanted to play, then I had to study as well. He probably never thought that I would go on to play for the country. Whenever he would come to the house, we would quickly open our books and pretend to study. Then in 1973, I got selected for civil engineering in AMU through a competitive exam.
How did you manage your studies and hockey?
I used to go to practice with cork ball (as leather ball was very costly) at around 4:30 AM and be back by 6:30 AM. Then my engineering classes used to be held from 7:40 AM to 2:10 PM. After coming back, I would have chana gud (roasted chickpeas and jaggery), which was our diet in those days. Fir 3:30 PM main bhaag ke practice ke liye jaata tha (I used to run for practice at 3:30 PM). After coming back, I used to study.
It was toughest during my final year in 1978, when there were so many tournaments for India. Humara engineering ka bada nuksaan ho raha tha us samay (my engineering suffered a lot during that time). Luckily, the semester was postponed as there was a protest by the students due to the movement to grading system. So, by the time I came back from the World Cup, there was still time to appear for the exam. Those three months, I kept hockey in the corner to study day and night. After this, the principal said that I can't appear for the exams due to attendance shortage. Thankfully, the vice chancellor stepped in and said that special arrangements needed to be made for people representing the country.
Finally, I appeared for the exam and got close to distinction (74 per cent).
Let’s talk about your selection into the Indian team and your early days
In the fourth year, I made it to the university team and got a chance to play the Inter-University tournament at Ludhiana. I also got a call from Patiala for the combined university trials. During those days, most of the players who got selected for the Indian team used to come through the combined university team.
The Indian team was also practicing there. I performed well and hit six or seven goals. Our last session was with the Indian team and I scored with a flick against Leslie Fernandez. I was then selected to play Tests against Holland.
Then, of course, you went on to become a legendary left-out
Actually, I was a left-in and not left-out to start with. I was a scorer, and my flick was good. Woh to baad ki situation aisi ayi (It was the situation which prompted my shift). Surinder Singh Sodhi was a player who used to play left-in. So, Kishan Lal, who was the selector, asked me if I could play left-out. I agreed to it. Hum log to bachhe the, jo kaha jaata tha kar lete the (we were kids and would agree to whatever was told). But that shift was difficult. There used to be positional play then and it took me some time to adjust to left out.
Any specific memories from the 1980 Moscow Olympics?
We had a new team of young players apart from Vasudevan Bhaskaran and Bir Bahadur Chhetri. Humein maloom hi nahin tha ki ye astro turf kya cheez hoti hi (We didn’t know what astro turf was). There was a camp at Patiala and our coach Balkrishan Singh got the grass cut as well as had cow dung applied to make the field fast. Now when the cow dung dried it became very hard and the ball was coming very fast. But when we reached Moscow, the astro turf turned out to be totally different.
I have no doubts that Spain was a better team than us. They used to do man-to-man marking. Woh humare samajh mein hi nahin aata tha, chipak jaate the unke players (We couldn’t understand that, and they would stick to our players). They used to shout 'ariba ariba' which means up or above. Somehow, we made a strategy and played. We took a 3-0 lead in the finals, and they came back to make it 3-2. But then another goal was scored and finally, we won 4-3.
Apart from the good play, we also had luck on our side. Hence, we were able to win. But it would not have been possible without Mohammad Shahid. Agar woh nahin khelta to lene ke dene pad jaate (Had he not played well, we could not have won).
Who were your idols?
There were many, like Inam-ur Rahman, Ashok Kumar, BP Govinda, Udham Singh and Leslie Claudius among others. All of them were legends in their own right. Govinda was not very skilful, but he was daring. Team ke liye jaan de deta tha (He could give his life for the team).
Status of hockey in the country currently
Obviously, it does not have the same status as it used to once have. Back then, there was very good press coverage. But for the last 25 years or so, there has hardly been any coverage of national tournaments. Everything has become commercial now and hockey is a poor game. Hockey to SC/ST game ho gaya hai. Hum to hindi paper mein hi reh gaye. (Hockey has become a SC/ST game. We remained in Hindi papers). Thankfully, the government is doing few things, otherwise none of the federations will function. They don’t have money.
India’s chances in the 2021 Tokyo Olympics and your message to them
The team is doing very well and there is no doubt about it. It is ranked fourth after a long time, so that itself tells a story. We have very good players and some of them have participated in the Olympics before. I am quite optimistic.
But then, we have to be cautious. I feel the European teams will have an advantage as they have just played the European Championships. We have also played a Test series against Belgium, but then a tournament is different than that. I always say Olympics is Olympics, you can't experiment. One has to adapt to the situation.
We have confident world class players. If there is unity in the team, they are bound to do well. Jeeta ladke hi sakte hain, ye coach woach sab theek hai (Only the boys can make us win, not the coaches). They have to rely on themselves and put in everything. Humare aur appke sochne se nahin hoga. Humari duyaein to humesha rahengi (Nothing will happen by our thinking. My blessings will always be there).
Good luck to the team!