In these days of bleak, Oil and Natural Gas Corporation of India (ONGC) brings a smile on the faces hockey fans. The Oil Major has inducted 14 players in its rank to form a strong team. This is a major team formed in India eight years after Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) created a strong outfit in the early 2000.
There has been a hockey team with the ONGC since the mid 90s, but it did not prosper as one would have expected, reasons for that were many. Since the team shifted its base from Dehra Dun to Delhi in 2004, the company has been trying to bring big stars to its roll but somehow it did not work. There were rumours of Dilip Tirkey joining the team, but he eventually did not, as he was perhaps offered a lower post.
Recently, ONGC has taken 14 players on regular basis. The prize catch of course is Diwakar Ram, emerging star of India.
Olympian Harpal Singh, after all sentiments with Namdhari team, decided to join the ONGC, and got the Executive grade I post on par with leading cricketers in the ONGC pay rolls. Of course, Harpal deserves it as he is only Olympian out of the 14 new entrants.
Two former PNB Players Pramod Kumar and Bikas Toppo are also among the ONGCians now.
Junior internationals Jagwant Singh, Jasbir Singh, Joginder Guria have also made it to the team.
Uttar Pradesh’s Pant is the coach. Pant was formerly attached with Lucknow Nawabs, Second Division PHL team.
The influx of new blood has already started showing results. The ONGC team reached the semifinals of the SN Vohra-Gurmit Memorial Cup last month where it lost to the IOC in the tie breaker.
The team is at present playing in the Bombay League Super Division, having won all the matches it played so far.
For some time now the public sector companies were not recruiting players, even if so, the number of intakes were few and far between.
Even as the whole world is reeling under spiraling oil price rise and losses made by the government owned oil companies, ONGC accorded priority to hockey and strengthened its team with these new faces. It is a great feeling.
Now, it is upto these players to deliver, keeping discipline and dedication in letter and spirit.
The New Recruits: Dinesh Ekka, Harpal Singh, Baljinder Singh, Jasbir Singh, Arun Rawat, KH Jainta Meitei, Sandeep Antil, Jagwant Singh, Diwakar Ram, Bikas Toppo, Pramod Kumar, Yoginder Guria, Vikas Chaudhry and Joginder Choudhry.
4 Comments
see amritsar schools introducing hockey .prof, randhawa
Prof. it is good that you start hockey at schools. But please dont change the date of birth of players to make them ever young as possible in their old age. For your information, there are other states too who are introducing new hockey academies… You groom them, and let them come to a stage where they can perform according to their age, then possibly the projection to the public would be greater. Please do not count the chicken before they hatch.
YOU ARE OBJECTING MR.RANDHAWA .BUT YOU ARE DOING THE SAME THING. WHAT ARE YOU WRITING ABOUT ? YOU KNOW ? ARE YOU A TRUE HOCKEY LOVER ? SARABJIT SANDHU
hello Sarabjit, what’s wrong in advising people not to change date of birth. You see, any national championship or for that matter the Indian junior and subjunior team – check their passport with original age or with the office documents.. you can find the difference. Hence it is my duty to inform the concerned to look into that stuff. Here again you advertise your school stuff.. What has it got to do with ONGC recruitment? Please stick to the titles of the page.