Since Hockey World Cup is on its way to India, I thought this is the right time to write something about the Indian Hockey. In this article you will find some great achievements made by our own Indian Hockey from the day it has started playing the game.
Hockey is India’s national game and today people have forgot that it is our national game. Sometimes I get a feeling that Cricket is so popular in India and that should have been our national game. There are reasons for hockey’s non-popularity in India which I will discuss in the later part of this story. Now, let’s just look at the history of Indian Hockey against the history of Indian Cricket.
India made debut to Test Cricket in 1932 and won its first match in 1952 (almost 20 years). Prior to this victory it had lost 25 matches in a row. On the contrary, Indian Hockey team had to wait 32 years to LOSE a Olympic match prior to which it had won 30 matches in a row.
Both the games were introduced to India by the British. It took 20 years and 15 matches to beat England in a Cricket Test Match. But, England had to wait for 37 years and 22 matches to beat India in a Hockey Match.
1928 Indian Hockey team is the first team to win a Gold Medal in Olympics for Asia. The records set by the Indian Hockey team in Olympics are still unbeaten. 8-1 win against Germany in 1936 Olympics Finals, 32-0 win against America in 1932 Olympics League Match are 2 records of those. Starting from 1928 to 1960 India has won 30 games in a row. It took 28 years to see a match where India scored just one goal. Prior to that there was no match which goals less than 2. After 48 years, in 1968 New Zealand beat India by 2-1 which is the first match ever where India allowed the opponent to score second goal. In a group of 100 Hockey Playing nations, India stood at #1 for 40 years unbeaten, which is why it was adopted as our national game.
Such was the Indian Hockey team and today we nowhere in the medal list. Forget the medal; a day has come where we would be glad if we get qualified for Olympics. What is the reason for this? Is it the inefficiency of the players? Problem with the Coach? What is it that has brought Indian Hockey to Hell Down Under?
Just thank our own Hockey Federation for all the courtesy that it has been showing on our players. First thing is first, the salary of an International Hockey Player is less than a Domestic Cricket Player. If a player falls unfit, the Federation asks him to take the medical facility and reimburse the bill which has never happened in the history of Hockey. The fastest player of India Rajiv Mishra (Germany’s coach placed 3 extra cameras to capture his moves, since it was impossible with one camera!!), who got a knee injury just before the 1998 World Cup was asked to undergo a surgery which was “Successful” and he was fit enough to walk. Railways gave him the job of Ticket Collector and till date the Hockey Federation has not reimbursed the medical expenses. As an answer, Mr. KPS Gill says it is the responsibility of player to take care of his health.
Now when the players have protested against the Federation to give them the arrears, with a threat not to not play the practice matches for the World Cup. And Mr. Suresh Kalmadi replies “Is it money or Country important to you?”. If this is the case, then imagine the situation and importance of Hockey in India. Hope you might have got an idea why Cricket is popular in India.
No comments:
Post a Comment