Field Hockey is not a religion in India. Let alone the facts that it is our national sport, it is less time consuming and it has earned the country significant international acclamations since the British period.  What is hindering this sport and how glorious it was once? Here, we have a journey down the memory lane to analyze the rise and fall of this sport.

Remembering a victory moment:-
                              
•    Year:  1975
•    Venue: Malaysia’s capital Kuala Lumpur
•    Event: Third World Cup Hockey final
Team India stood against its archrival Pakistan. It was a fateful match as India successively secured 3rd and 2nd place in the last two World Cups. In this match, Ashok Kumar played the decider shot that successfully hit the target. The Pakistani players protested but the umpire denied.  With the blowing of final whistle, Indian team won its first world cup title defeating Pakistan by 2-1 under the captaincy of Ajit Pal Singh in a debated international hockey match.

Golden Era:-

The 1975’s hockey cup was not the only big title India earned. Indians had already demonstrated their excellent performance and aggressive match playing qualities in several other international matches. In fact, the period from 1928 – 1956 is called Indian hockey’s Golden era. During this time, India won six successive Gold medals in Olympic Games. The country played 24 Olympic matches and won all 24 scoring more than 170 glorious goals; with an average of 7.43 goals per match. In the Olympic next to 1956, India failed to outplay Pakistan, but stood a good position. The two more Olympic Gold medals for India came in 1964 and 1980.

Gradual degradation:-

With such a huge success and international acclamation, field hockey quite naturally became country’s national game. A game which British people brought into the country. Players like Dhyanchand, Leslie Claudius, Balbir Singh Sr. and Ajit Pal Singh received worldwide acclamation. But, the rise of the giant had to meet a setback. The golden days started fading gradually.  Internationally, countries like Germany, Australia, Pakistan, Netherlands, Korea and Spain put India nowhere whereas nationally, bat replaced the stick and cricket turned into a religion outshining hockey.

Why the failure:-

Is cricket alone responsible for the downfall of field hockey in India? Obviously not. The popularity of a sport largely depends on certain influences like media and government. Very few people would object if any television anchor wrongly narrates that cricket is our national game. Sadly, media is more into cricket today. However, the game is recalled by media when any hit Bollywood film remembers it. The lack of support and developmental measures from the government and concerned authorities is another reason for why hockey has not met its due importance. The team’s boycott of world cup preparatory camp is a case in point. However, things, to an extent, have been fixed and India is playing in this year’s world cup which is happening in its own soil. International Hockey Federation (FIH) doubt (now ended) over India’s credibility to organize 2010’s Hockey World Cup is yet another example.

The rise and again the fall:-

Interestingly, team India outplayed Pakistan in its first face-off match in this year’s world cup. They played an impressive fast paced attacking hockey and marked a 4-1 win. I thought this is the rise of a Phoenix from the ashes. A different euphoria was automatically born. No wonder, I was overly happy. The team had a dismal performance yesterday against Australia as the latter spanked them by 5-2.

Hope is the final note:-

Is it the end of India’s journey to success in 2010’s world cup? Is the team heading for another deal of ignorance or the team will bounce back in the next matches? Only time knows the answer. We can only hope for its rise to relive the happy hockey moments.


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