HSK: Decline and Fall of Indian Hockey

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Indian hockey has failed to make the mark. To think that Indian hockey, which was ruling supreme among hockey - playing countries of the world has been unable to qualify for the 2008 Beijing Olympics is really a national shame, which has no parallel in the history of India's sports. The entire sports-loving community in India is expressing its agony and disappointment. Attempts are made to point accusing finger on those who are believed to be responsible for this debacle.

Passing the buck:
The people who matter are blaming one another and are engaged in hectically trying to pass the buck to others. A number of suggestions are being made to lift the game from its present state of ignominy of defeat. It is most painful to believe that our hockey is in such a bad state as not to be permitted to enter the gate of Olympic Games to be played at Beijing. At the Olympic qualifier tournament held in Santiago (Chile) from 1 to 9 March 2008, India failed to win the finals. It is a terrible fall from the heights of Heaven to the depths of Purgatory.

Though many lovers of the game are giving expression to their shock at this national shame, it has failed to attract the attention of our media people. The media czars are all agog — excited and interested in finding out the truth behind this debacle. But they lack the concern they usually exhibit when our game of cricket fails to make the grade. They create the atmosphere of a nationwide conflagration. Before cricket, other games like football and hockey pale into insignificance.

The thousand dollar question is — what went wrong and when? The shortest answer is that it has gone wrong, and has been going wrong over several years. This only makes the story short. But to know the travails of the game one has to go deep into it and analyze the causes. It is a case of missed opportunities and a clear lack of perception and perspective. It is like the dancer who blames the stage floor for her miserable performance.

India was once the traditional home of hockey. Other nations were admiring and imitating it. None could vanquish the Indian players. The early history of Indian hockey is a glorious one. It had almost a virtual monopoly. Right from 1928 it won six Olympic gold medals in a row—at Amsterdam (1928), Los Angeles (1932), Berlin (1936), London (1948), Helsinki (1952) and Melbourne (1956).

But at the next Olympic Games in 1960 at Rome it had to be satisfied with a silver medal. The golden days of Indian hockey were passing. At the next meet at Tokyo in 1964 it made a herculean effort to regain its lost glory and succeeded in getting gold again. At the next two Olympic meets in Mexico City (1968) and Munich (1972), the fall was steeper. It won only bronze.

Renewed efforts by the Indian team to go back to the original slot ended in miserable failure. It could not get even bronze at Montreal (1976). It got the 7th rank! What a fall was there, my countrymen moaned the hockey - lovers. The Indian team was enthused to make another attempt at Moscow in 1980. Thank Heavens! India got gold once again. It was the last occasion when the team romped home with gold.

Dismal failures:
But the Indian hockey team did not lose hope completely. It is a lesson you should heed. “Try, try, try again” is an old English rhyme. Indians did try again and again, as Los Angeles (1984), Seoul (1988), Barcelona (1992), Atlanta (1996), Sydney (2000) and Athens (2004). This is a long list of dismal failures. The team was placed in the 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th, 7th and 7th ranks respectively. The history of Indian hockey is the story of continuous drift from glory to disgrace. The Olympian Gods of ancient Greece were determined to teach Indians a lesson. Why do these people keep coming back to the Olympics again and again, when it is proved beyond doubt that they are worthless? The Gods might have thought so.

This time at Santiago they failed to qualify for playing at Beijing. But there is no need to brood over the disgrace suffered by India. An honest and sincere attempt must be made to analyse the causes and remove them at the earliest. The factors responsible for the debacle are multi-dimensional. Shifting and sacking of coaches, lack of any policy regarding the selection of players, frequent shuffle of players, leading to uncertainty and nervousness and gruelling and long sessions of camps, resulting in the tiring out of players when the match is imminent, the emergence of Pakistan as a hockey power-house and introduction of synthetic pitches in the place of grass pitches are some of the factors.

Fool's paradise:
The Indian hockey lords were continuing in fool's paradise all the way, while international standards were going up. They continued to boast about the virtues of the Asian style of playing. But they made no attempt to preserve its purity. They did nothing to counter the threat posed by the European system, which has been thriving as a result of constant efforts to improve it to perfection. Its qualities are praiseworthy. It is noted for power, precision and perfection in penalty corners — that is, the four Ps. The success of the European and Australian teams is the result of this concerted effort.

The Indian teams and their mentors continued to take pride all the while maintaining that the aesthetic quality of their touch was supreme and their body language was superb.

It is a pity that our enthusiasts did not admit that their style was outmoded and obsolete. The modern game is noted for its swiftness; it attaches great importance to fitness, fluency and forthright movement. India and Pakistan simply floundered before the rapid changes that were taking place on the world arena. The synthetic pitch introduced in 1976 by World Hockey sounded the death knell of Indian hockey.

Instead of clinging to their old methods, they should have adjusted themselves to the synthetic pitch. But they had an alibi: Grass is good. Synthetic pitch kills our artistic play — they said. The coaches were frequently changed. They began to put the blame on the umpires for they wanted to save their skin. When does Indian hockey once again acquire the prime place?

HSK
Courtesy: Star of Mysore