Super Sunday reveals the indifference and ignorance of Indian fans towards sports other than cricket

Would the hockey team have received the same adulation had the cricket team won?

Sunday was a momentous day for Indian sport as for once, it was the Indian hockey team and a badminton player that were the toast of the town, despite the fact that the Indian cricket team, the apple of the nation’s sporting eye, were playing arch-rivals Pakistan in the final of an important ICC tournament.

The Virat Kohli-led side were clear favourites going into their match, having beaten Pakistan, who were the last-ranked side, earlier in the tournament as well. However, they were blown out of the water by an energised Pakistan team, who amassed a total of 338/4 batting first and skittled out the Indian batting lineup, arguably the best in the world, for a paltry 158 in 30 overs.

The nation was waiting with bated breath, coupled with a whiff of arrogance and over-confidence, for the Men in Blue to coast home to victory but at the end of the day, it was Pakistan who were deserving winners. But what would have usually been an embarrassment and a spoiled day for India’s ‘sports fans’ became one to rejoice as an hour or two before, our hockey team had defeated Pakistan 7-1 a few miles away from the Oval and people took pride (or solace?) in the performance of the men with the sticks, a sight rarely seen these days.

Suddenly, social media was abuzz with the hockey team’s record-breaking win and how proud it made fans across India, while the fact remains that it is the same fans who have been undermining the efforts of the same team for a long time. Even the country’s sports ministry chose India’s national hockey stadium, named after Major Dhyan Chand – India’s greatest ever sportsperson and the greatest hockey player of all-time, to screen the India-Pakistan cricket match.

Hockey, like many other sports in India, is accorded step-brotherly treatment by administrators and fans alike, and yesterday was a rare occasion for it to enter the limelight. It was probably made possible because of the cricket team’s simultaneous capitulation, but one thing is for certain, yesterday’s events have once again brought forth the horrible mindset of the average Indian sports fan.

As soon as India started piling on the goals in the second half at the Lee Valley Hockey and Tennis Centre, the cricket team were losing wickets at the same rate, if not more. By the time the 7-1 scoreline was sealed, India had lost Yuvraj Singh and MS Dhoni in their chase of 339, with chances of a win looking extremely bleak.

It was then that the fan realised that he/she can take pride in the hockey team’s win as well and that results of the national team in hockey can be equated with cricket. The ‘chalo, hockey mein toh jeet gaye’  attitude is the one that is the most disturbing, showing how it clearly is considered secondary and how it only receives attention after the Indian cricket team does not perform as it is expected to.

Suddenly, social media was filled with memes and posts, showing how we won in our ‘national sport’ and how we always loved hockey, the most striking image being of the cricket bat being carved into a hockey stick. People rejoiced and posted about how India thrashed Pakistan in a hockey semi-final match and are now through to the final.

Twitter and Facebook accounts, with huge followings and wide reaches, such as All India Bakchod and Buzzfeed India, were also sucked into this social media melee. Both AIB and Buzzfeed, which preach to people about the importance of checking facts, posted memes stating how India won the FIH Hockey World League semifinal, while the truth remains quite far from it. 

Hockey, to begin with, is not India’s national sport and this was made clear in 2012 thanks to an RTI query filed by a 10-year-old girl named Aishwarya Parashar, after which it was made clear that the government has never issued any statement or order to announce hockey as the country’s national sport.

Secondly, the hockey tournament in which India played Pakistan is called the Hockey World League Semifinals and is the penultimate stage of the International Hockey Federation’s (FIH) Hockey World League, which began in April last year.

It starts with the HWL Round 1, followed by Round 2, after which the semifinals and finals are played – each being a whole tournament in its own. On the basis of the world rankings, the top 11 teams receive direct entries to the semifinal stage, while the next nine go into Round 2, leaving the teams below 20^th place to contest Round 1, then Round 2 and so on and so forth.

The India-Pakistan clash was a part of the first Semifinal, which has 10 teams divided into two groups of five. India is drawn with Scotland, Canada, Pakistan and the Netherlands and yesterday’s match was a group stage game, not a semifinal. The second semifinal will be played in July in South Africa and four top teams from both semifinals will play the Hockey World League Final in Bhubhaneshwar, scheduled to begin in December.

It was a huge achievement for the hockey team to record their biggest win in history against their arch rivals, showing how much progress they have made over the last few years. As far as the fans and social media entites are concerned, can you not spread misinformation and for once, give other sportspersons and teams their due – independent of the cricket team’s achievements.