Indian hockey: The resurgence and rebirth – CNBCTV18

Sports is about moments. And these moments can change the face of an entire game, country, or race. For cricket in India, it was the 1983 World Cup win. For the Black Americans, it was Jesse Owens' win at the 1936 Berlin Olympics. The US Ice Hockey team's victory over USSR at the 1980 Olympics redefined the word underdogs and how fans saw them.

The question arises why did it take so long? Did we just get lucky? Will we have to wait again for so long? Let's start from the beginning...

There are two contrasting stories at play here. The first story is about dominance and invincibility from 1928-1980. India won six consecutive gold medals from 1928-1956, one Silver in 1960, and another gold in 1964. The statistics speak for themselves.

KD Singh, "The Wizard" Major Dhyan Chand, and Balbir Singh Sr. are just a few legendary names that immortalized Indian Hockey during that period.

The Long Fall

The second story, though, is about agony, defeat, and hopelessness.

Ashwani Kumar, the then Indian Hockey Federation president, resigned in 1973, and all hell broke loose. PN Sahni took over when the game was divided between Northern and Southern blocs.

MAM Ramaswamy was the man from the southern bloc who eventually succeeded in gaining the presidency. But all these incidents took away the attention from the actual game, and India couldn't keep up with the world.

The International Hockey Federation introduced AstroTurf in the mid-1970s. The decision to play on Synthetic Pitches instead of grass was the beginning of the fall.

The grass pitches suited the game of Indian players who were known for their passing and dribbling abilities. AstroTurf, however, favoured the physicality of European and Australian players.

These grounds are expensive to maintain. The Indian Hockey Federation did not have enough funds. In preparation for the 1976 Montreal Olympics, authorities shaved off the grass and plastered the field with cow dung.

No doubt it didn't work, and we returned empty-handed. India did win a Gold at the Moscow Olympics in 1980, but the West did not participate in the Tournament to protest the Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan.

Kapil Dev's Indian Cricket team won the World Cup in 1983 and started a revolution. From the sponsors to the politicians, everyone wanted to be part of the madness. That further took the attention away from hockey.

Rule changes like the abolition of the offside play in 1992, allowing overhead shots, no cap on rolling substitutes, among others, further contributed to the decline, and the players took time to adapt. The game became fast-paced. Fitness and tactical play became much important than individual brilliance.

It all came boiling down to 2008 where India couldn't even qualify for Olympics for the first time in 80 years. The Jothikumaran scandal further rocked the game and lead to the suspension of the Indian Hockey Federation.

The Comeback

Hockey India took over, and that is when things started to change. The authority recognized the importance of fitness and world-class training. But, considering the mess the Indian Hockey was in, the comeback was always going to take time.

And then came the major push in the form of the Naveen Patnaik-led Odisha government. In 2018, they became the only state government to sponsor a national team. Even before that, the Odisha government hosted the 2014 Champions Trophy and the World Hockey League Finals in 2017.

Odisha Naval Tata Hockey High-Performance Centre in Bhubaneswar at the Kalinga Stadium is a prime example of the efforts put in by the Government. The centre was built in collaboration with the TATA group to provide world-class sporting facilities to all the athletes.

Both the men's and women's teams showed that they belonged right there with the big boys and girls.

What does the future hold?

The future looks bright. The results we got at the Tokyo Olympics from both teams weren't just one-off. A lot of work still needs to be done at the state level, and hopefully, this Olympics has managed to garner the right kind of attention.

In another project under the leadership of Naveen Patnaik, Rourkela is set to be home to the country's biggest Hockey stadium. Odisha will also host the Men's Hockey World Cup in 2023 for the second time. The Government also plans to lay 17 synthetic turfs in the Sundargarh district.

All this is bound to bring in more exposure and experience.

(Edited by : Abhishek Jha, Pradeep Suresh)

First Published:Aug 16, 2021, 08:19 PM IST

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Indian hockey: The resurgence and rebirth - CNBCTV18