Tirkey announces retirement
Way back in 1995, when India were still considered among the top six hockey nations in the world, a frail young adivasi made his debut against England at the Indira Gandhi Gold Cup in Delhi. Dilip Tirkey was hardworking, shy and talented — and was immediately labelled the find of the tournament.
On Sunday, after 408 matches and 15 years of consistently turning out in India colours and shouldering the burden of an increasingly fragile defence, Tirkey finally called it a day. The ‘Wall’ of Indian hockey retired from the international arena in the way he has lived all his professional life — low-key, without a flourish, sans publicity — at a six-a-side local junior hockey tournament at home.
“I made the announcement in the evening, after the end of a local tournament here (in Bhubaneswar). But it’s only now that the realisation is sinking in. It feels strange, and sad at the same time, that I will never wear an India jersey again, that I will never play for the country again,” Tirkey told The Indian Express.
For the past one year, the 33-year-old Tirkey has been struggling with his fitness, his ankles letting him down repeatedly. Every time he would recover and get back on field, his ankles would snap, unable to take the load. It is perhaps ironical that the man who was considered the fittest person in the Indian squad despite a host of youngsters — some half his age — coming in, had to quit the sport he loved because of fitness issues.
Or, rather, perhaps it was the excess burden on his fitness that finally proved his undoing. A look at the Indian team’s roster through the last decade and a half would reveal that, till the end of 2006, there would hardly be a tournament, or even a game, that did not feature Tirkey. From 1995 to 2001, he did not miss a single game, an enormous achievement given the physical demands of his sport. And as Indian hockey slowly slid deeper into crisis, Tirkey increasingly came to the rescue more often, playing for the full 70 minutes. He made it to the World XI consistently for three years, even when India were finishing at the bottom.
“I haven’t told anyone except the local people who had come for the tournament, not even my team mates or the federation or anyone. Maybe I will do it tomorrow,” Tirkey said.
But he was never one for the flashlights. Tirkey played away from the glare of publicity, letting his game speak of his enormous talent.
“I am sad that I could not help the country to a medal in any of the major tournaments — the World Cup, the Champions Trophy, the Olympics. I wanted to go out on a high, playing the World Cup or the Commonwealth Games at home. But it was not to be. And I don’t think I can take the load anymore. My aim now will be to coach youngsters in Orissa, maybe open an academy in Bhubaneswar and Rourkela. But that’s all in the future,” he said.