Indian hockey is dead; long live Indian hockey

Bobilli Vijay Kumar

In the end, it proved to be a false dawn; if anything, Indian hockey has only plunged deeper into darkness after an odyssey called nightmare in London.

There is no need to look far for the culprits behind this disaster though; we just need to look into the mirror, and the answer will hit back at us: yes, as a country, we alone are responsible for this gut-wrenching decline.

We merely sat and watched the fun as selfish and squabbling officials destroyed the sport; we didn’t even raise a whimper, let alone a protest, even though they have been gnawing at it for years. Finally, they have got to its soul too.

They will now point fingers at the players, calling it a heartless, if not spineless, display; they will blame the coach and even present him at the sacrificial altar; they will announce grand plans for the future, even suggesting that the breakthrough is just round the corner.

We must stop them before they take off on these fanciful flights and lull us into hope again; we must stop them before they plunder the game some more, not even leaving any remains for a decent burial. If we really love hockey, we must stop them now.

Of course, it was our own fault that we got fooled by their promises, getting swept away in the euphoria of just qualifying; we didn’t bother to see the signs, or at least notice the gap that the world had already created.

Yes, it looked like happy days were on their way back, when India eased into the Olympics; but did we bother to consider that the demolished sides were all weaklings? We exulted over the bronze in the Azlan Shah tournament; but didn’t we gloss over the fact that we had sent virtually our Olympic team, while others had fielded their second-strings or had at least rested key players?

In the first few moments of their Olympic campaign itself, India’s fate had become clear; the players seemed overawed to be back on the big stage, and conceded two soft goals. They would later recover poise and even restore parity but the joy was ephemeral.

They were shown their true colours in the next game; New Zealand overwhelmed them in every facet, brutally exposing the holes in their defence. Suddenly, the forwards too forgot the drills and clung on to the ball in the D; the midfield too dissipated, taking the fight out of them.

After that, it was only going to go one way: downhill. They lost all their group matches for the first time; they are going to finish second last, if they get lucky: it will be another first. Indian hockey is clearly dead; long live Indian hockey.

Let us stop looking for a new dawn.