Sports Department of the Madhya Pradesh State Government organized an exhibition hockey match between Indian Olympians XI Vs Bhopal XI at the Tathya Toppe Multi-purpose sports complex, Bhopal, on Tuesday.
Olympic XI, led by Ajitpal Singh, included such former stars as Aslam Sher Khan, Zafar Iqbal, Dhanraj Pillay, Sanjay Bist, Arvind Chhabra, Jagbir Singh, Dilip Tirkey while their rival team had in its rank Ashok Kumar, Inam-ur-Rahman, Sameer Dad, Abdul Ghafoor and other Bhopal greats. Shakeel Quereshi was one of the umpires. Ashok Kumar, being the coach in charge of MP State Boys Hockey Academy, led the Bhopal side.
The match, played amidst a few thousand crowd, was won by the local team 4-3. The spectators could not enjoy the full match as it had to be abandoned midway due to heavy rain and the heavy weather created by the late arrival of State’s political bosses.
Chief Minister of the State Shivraj Singh Chauhan, Sports Minister Pawar and State Planning Commission Chairman Shastri were among the dignitaries present to witness the match organized to popularize the game of hockey.
We are not aware of the exact expenditure on the event, but it must be a good one. Against this it is felt that the time has come now to move ahead of such tamashas and put our resources on the genuine cause of developing hockey.
Ok, if the people behind the show are capable of bringing private sponsorship for such event, then it is fine. If the taxpayers money is spent this way, this should be discouraged, because same resources could have gone into the some genuine developmental causes.
Captions:
Top: Indian Olympians XI in action
Middle: Indian Olympians Zafar Iqbal in action mode
Left: Indian Olympians Dhanraj Pillay captured in a serious mood
Photos Courtesy: Arun Arnaw