Whatever is happening to Indian hockey? There was a time when gloom descended on the whole country if the team performed badly in a major international tournament. Today, there is no reaction, not even if it is mauled by Pakistan.
Just see what happened in the Champions Trophy Qualifying Tournament in Salta, Argentina, recently. India had done well to reach the semi-finals and had every hope of not only of making it to the final stage but also of claiming the title and with that the right to play in the main Champions` Trophy next year. But Pakistan put paid to all such hopes by beating it 6-3. In the end it was New Zealand, complete outsiders, which won the final and will now be a part of the main tournament next year.
The defeat did not stir any emotions in India. And it has been so for quite some time now. The once national game of India does not evoke any response in the hearts of the hockey lovers these days. Everyone seems to have given up on Indian hockey. The situation is really hopeless. The country has a stop gap arrangement for a federation with everyone waiting for a regular set of office-bearers to take up the job.
In fact the position is very embarrassing. India is hosting the World Cup in a matter of months but without a regular National Federation. The World Cup draw has been released by the International authorities but total silence reigns in the host country. There is no spokesman to bemoan the loss to Pakistan in Argentina and no one to comment on the draw.
There was a time some eight to ten years ago when the game was seen to be on the comeback trail. India won the Asian Games, the Asian title and also held the Asian Junior title. But suddenly came a series of reversals followed by the continued change at the coaches’ level and finally the big blow from the Indian Olympic Association. The Federation was dissolved and an ad-hoc body shaped in its place.
It was during this time that India also failed to take a spot in the Olympic Games, the first time ever for a country which had pre-eminent role in making the game popular at the highest level of international competition. With Pakistan also falling on bad days one faced the spectre of both the giants from the sub-continent missing from the title fight in the Asian Games.
Once the dominant force in the continent, both India and Pakistan are today just another participant, no longer champion teams. If one talks about hockey leadership in the continent, it means South Korea, which once it took over in Seoul in the 80s, rarely allowed itself to slacken the vigil, though India did get hold of the title once.
India needs to take firm steps to revive the game. First it must galvanise the domestic front and give more importance to the national championships and major tournaments which used to dot the map for years. The Nehru Hockey Tournament must again be injected with the same spirit and purpose for which it was started in mid-sixties. This is the tournament which has been the base for Indian hockey for a number of years but of late things have not been all spit and polish like in the early years.
An effort must also be made to build up teams at all-India schools and Universities, the obvious nursery for national hockey. The Federation, if and when it takes shape, must devote more time to domestic hockey before talking about international commitment. Otherwise hockey will cease to be of any importance in India.
- Asian Tribune -
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