Times of India: Mohammed Shahid’s death ‘a great loss’ for Indian hockey: Sreejesh, Dhanraj
By Jamie Alter
NEW DELHI: The demise of Indian hockey great Mohammed Shahid, part of the team that won gold at the 1980 Moscow Olympics, has been met with shock and by legends of the Indian hockey fraternity. Shahid passed away at Gurgaon’s Medanta Medicity hospital on Wednesday after struggling to overcome a severe liver condition and kidney failure. He was 56.
Current India goalkeeper and captain for the Rio Olympics, PR Sreejesh, was made aware of the tragic news when TOI Sports called him, and took a moment to collect his thoughts. He was part of the small Indian hockey contingent that met an ailing Shahid in the hospital last week.
“I am speechless. When we visited him, the situation was very critical. Its a great loss for Indian hockey. Shahid was a living legend who brought hockey to a different level,” said Sreejesh from Bangalore, where the Indian team is engaged in a 20-day pre-Olympics camp.
A crestfallen Dhanraj Pillay, the country’s all-time leading goal-scorer, held back tears as he remembered the legend on whom he once tried to model his game. “I am mourning, I just cannot comprehend what has happened,” he said from his residence in Mumbai, his voice quivering over the phone line. “We have lost an icon, a pillar of Indian hockey. Fifty-six is no age to go. This is a great loss.
“He was my idol, I wanted to be him at one stage but then I realized that there can only be one Mohammed Shahid. I have never seen Dada Dhyan Chand, but in my lifetime I have not seen a better hockey player than Mohammed Shahid. I have been fortunate to see many greats such as Zafar Iqbal, Leslie Claudius, MM Somaya and Joaquim Carvalho but there was none better than Shahid bhai. Woh toh alag hi the .”
Pillay recalled the time he first saw Shahid and then when he first had the chance to meet him. “It was in Bangalore in 1986 that I first saw him in person, otherwise I had seen him on an old black-and-white TV during the 1982 Asian Games. When we met, he called me little brother and said that I could go on to become like him, even better. ‘ Bhai, maza aa gaya tumhe dekh ke ,’ he told me,” said the 48-year-old. “We even played together, in 1991 during the Sanjay Gandhi Tournament when I was representing Mahindra & Mahindra. But the most memorable moment with Shahid bhai was when the Hockey Federation of India had organised an evening to felicitate us Olympians at the Centaur Hotel in Delhi near the airport before the Barcelona Games.
“I was standing with Mukesh Kumar and Mohammed Shahid walked up to us, put his arms on our shoulders and said ‘if I’d had you two for support on the field when I was at my peak, we could have done wonders together’. That struck me so hard, I am emotional today recalling that moment. Not just in India, but I can recall so many Pakistan players and Dutch players speaking highly of Shahid bhai and even in recent years whenever I have gone abroad people asked about him. Sadly, he is no more and I am shattered. I pray for his family and will travel to Varanasi for his funeral.”
Former India captain Zafar Iqbal, with whom Shahid formed a terrific pair on the hockey field during the 1980s – in particular at the 1982 and 1986 Asian Games – was distraught at the news. “I am deeply saddened; I have lost one of my closest comrades. We played together for seven years. His contributions to the game are immeasurable,” Zafar, who led India at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics, told TOI Sports.
Somaya, who played three Olympics with Shahid, remembered a rare player whose partnership on the field with Zafar weaved a majestic tapestry in Indian hockey’s history. “I have been struggling to digest the news of Shahid. Millions who followed him in the 80s have a special spot for him. Shahid and Zafar were a treat to watch. They were skilful and fast down the left. Zafar’s breakneck pace and Shahid’s dribble and guile gave Indian fans of that era a treasure trove of memories,” said Somaya.
Mir Ranjan Negi, whose India career started at the same time as Shahid’s – they were team-mates at the 1979 Junior World Cup – remembers a friend, brother, entertainer and once-in-a-lifetime hockey player. “Shahid was something else,” he said. “I first met him when he came down to Mumbai as part of the Lucknow Sports Hostel team for the Aga Khan Tournament, and he outclassed kids who were 18-19. It was riveting to watch him, for he simply excelled at dribbling. He was a connoisseur of dribbling, better than Pakistan’s Hassan Sardar who was an absolute legend. Nobody could touch Shahid. His beauty was his jugglery.”
Shahid and Negi shared rooms during tournaments home and away, and the former India women’s coach considers himself fortunate to have shared many cherished memories.
“Shahid and I had a great rapport, off and on the field. We used to discuss a lot about hockey and life, even in the bad times, and there were many,” he said. “On the field, Shahid would entertain the masses. Off it, he was bindaas too, the life of any party. There was a function in Kolkata organised by Leslie Claudius for former and modern hockey greats, and Shahid just went onto the stage, grabbed the microphone and started singing songs and ghazals.
Even after our playing days, we stayed in touch. Most recently we did commentary together for the Hero Hockey India League, and we were talking about getting him down to Mumbai again for one of the veteran matches that Leslie Claudius holds, and he was excited. But now he’s gone …” said Negi, his words drying up as his voice trailed off.