“Phir dil diya Hockey ko”

Over the past few days, I’ve been watching the FIH Hockey World Cup on TV. Although India had a dream start (the 4-1 drubbing of Pakistan), it was all downhill after that. When we finally lost to Argentina and ended 8th out of 12 participating teams, it wasn’t a great feeling.

That said, I couldn’t help but get attracted to this game. I don’t watch hockey too often (loyalties lie with football, cricket and tennis sometimes), but as I saw the best teams in the world playing against each other, I felt hockey too was every bit if not more exciting than the other more popular sports.

Consider for example, the pace of the game. An average hockey game has about 4 goals whereas an average football game has only 2, that when the duration of a hockey game is 20 minutes lesser. The game in hockey moves from one half to the other extremely fast, and the attacks at goal can be quite sudden at times. Remember the game between India and Spain? There were 4 goals scored within 4 minutes!
The game is also quite literally non-stop. There are no time gaps between bowling overs or rest breaks between games and sets, where advertisers can squeeze in their 10-seconder. You play for a fast uninterrupted 35 minutes, take a short break and then go again. Free hits are taken quickly, and every member on the field is always on the run.

Then, let us look at the skill level required in this game. Admittedly, skill is something all great players of all sports must possess. Similarly, the hockey skills of some great players bewilder you too. I remember a particular Arjun Halappa dribble on the right flank in the match against Australia where he manoeuvred through three defenders to set up a crucial goal. “Wow!” was my reaction. And then there are the drag flickers (or penalty corner specialists for the less initiated) – every good team has one. Their sharp judgement and accurate hits change the course of the game. Little wonder then, that penalty corners are so sought after. The chances of converting one into a goal are high if you have an ace drag flicker in your team.

So, I guess what I’m finally trying to say is – Hockey IS an absorbing, exciting game. It is our national sport and somewhere as Indians, we’ve lost faith in it. It was our national pride when we were winning Olympic golds one after the other, but as the Westerners introduced astro-turf and our team’s fortunes turned topsy-turvy, we too switched off. Meanwhile, Kapil and his devils won 1983, and a man called Sachin Tendulkar started rewriting record books. It was convenient to shift focus as Indians to a new sport and worship new heroes. It was also convenient for sponsors to back the new poster boys and put in all the moolah to create one of the world’s richest sporting bodies. Meanwhile, the managing body of the national sport did not even have enough money to pay the players their modest salaries.

For me, Sachin’s 200 moment is still my YouTube favourite. But the sight of a blue-jersey clad Indian hockey player dribbling away and giving his everything to a sport and a nation that gave up on him, is equally endearing.
As the latest Hero Honda ad appeals, “Phir dil do hockey ko”. Maine to de diya.