In the underprivileged hamlets of the Chotanagpur plateau that straddles the northern part of Orissa, Jharkhand and Chattisgarh states, tribals (adivasis) often struggle to find a few lifelines. The most visible of these is the game of hockey. In the small villages of the region almost every child grows up playing hockey. For the impoverished people of this region, the game has become an escape route from poverty to jobs and prosperity.

Recognising this inherent talent of the people, Sports Authority of India had adopted a few schools of the region in 1987, including two in the Sundergarh town in Orissa. The results followed quickly and a crop of fine young players were soon playing for some of India’s top hockey teams like the Railways and the Indian Airlines.

The brightest star to emerge during this period is Dilip Tirkey, India’s top defender. Not surprisingly, the soft-spoken and handsome Dilip has become a role model, if not an idol, for hundred of boys of the Chotanagpur plateau.
Like many children of the Oraon tribe at Saunamara in the Sundergarh district, Dilip along with brother Anoop took to hockey very early. For inspiration they didn’t have to look far. Their father Vincent Tirkey was a hockey player who represented the Orissa Police team. Among the schools the SAI adopted in 1987, was Bhavani Shankar High School, not very far from Dilip’s village. The next year the eleven-year-old Dilip appeared for the trials and made the grade for the Bhavani Shankar School. A first step had promptly been taken in the youngster’s history making hockey career.

Dilip caught the eye of the SAI coach Ajay Kumar Bansal who was on deputation to the school. Bansal believed the adivasis possessed the physique, stamina and natural flair to play hockey at top level. And he knew Dilip was extra special. “At least three players of the batch had the potential to play for India. What I liked most about Dilip was his sincerity. He was very calm, had natural talent and the best part was, he listened to whatever was said and he would take double load in practice,” the proud coach recollects. Dilip’s potential was polished to sparkle by Bansal in those days. The 26-year-old never forgot Bansal’s vital role in shaping him as a player. “Teaching hockey skill is fine but ‘Bansal Sir’ was the first coach who instilled the belief in me that I could play at the highest level and pushed me towards it,” Dilip acknowledges gratefully.

The young man started off as a left half. But his natural tackling skills prompted Bansal to shift him to the defense. While Dilip is the backbone of the Indian defense now, brother Anoop Tirkey is donning the colours of the Indian Railways as a defender for many years. As Bansal moved to Patiala in 1992, a 15-year-old Dilip graduated to the SAI Sports Hostel in Calcutta even as he had showed his mettle in many national tournaments for his school and Orissa junior team. However, the big moment dawned when selected for Bikaner Senior National Championship in 1993.

Dilip wasn’t in the playing eleven in Orissa’s first match against Punjab. Orissa got the thrashing of their lives. The coaches played him in the first eleven for the rest of the matches, a master stroke that yielded desired results. Thereafter Dilip shone as an outstanding defender all through the Championship. Though predominantly an inexperienced adivasi team, Orissa fought their way to the semi-finals where they lost to the Services.

Orissa might have lost the semifinal, but some compensation was in the offing for the whole team. The Railways Coach Factory, Kapurthala, offered jobs to Dilip and 13 other Orissa players after watching them play. Before taking up the job, Dilip and Co. put up another stirring performance in the Federation Cup at Jalandhar in Punjab. By then the teenager’s game grew so fantastically that a call for the national camp was not considered unusual. Dilip attended the preparatory camp for the 1994 Indira Gandhi Gold Cup but the event could not be held due to the twin tragedies of the Maharashtra earthquake and Mumbai bomb blasts. A visit to Western Australia as a part of the Under-21 Indian team gave some relief.

NOTE: Rest in the book

Rajesh Sahu, is a Producer with the Trans World International, the television division of International Merchandising Corporation. He has produced many topical programmes on men’s and women’s hockey and has also widely travelled covering hockey in India and abroad. Contact: RSahu@IMGWorld.com