By ERROL D’CRUZ

The months leading to the 1978 World Cup, the competition itself and the days following it were probably the most depressing in India’s chequered history of the game.

Forty-three years ago in March-April, the fourth edition of the World Cup was on in the Argentinean capital of Buenos Aires. India went into the competition to defend the title they so famously won three years earlier in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. But so disastrous were the two years leading to the Buenos Aires event that India weren’t given a ghost of a chance of retaining their title – for reasons both on and off the pitch.

The 1976 Montreal Olympic disaster left the nation benumbed. For the first time ever did India, seven-time champions till then, fail to win a medal at the Games. Worse, humiliating defeats at the hands of The Netherlands (1-3) and Australia (1-6) derailed the journey to gold after the Kuala Lumpur epoch fuelled expectations. Surely enough, India failed to make the semi-finals at Buenos Aires – for the first time in the World Cup — and eventually finished sixth.

In poignancy that seemed to be apt, the legend Digvijay Singh “Babu” committed suicide (for personal reasons) during the World Cup and days after the team returned home, right-half Bobby Claudius, son of the legendary Leslie, was killed in a road accident. It appeared that Indian hockey was being scourged by an inexplicable jinx!

The months leading to the World Cup, however, was blow hot, blow cold. Sure, the gloom of Montreal hung heavy over the nation’s hockey but there was a glimmer of hope now and then that the 1976 Olympics was an aberration.

1978 World Cup captain VJ Philips

The year 1977, as far as world hockey went, was a vacuum for championship events. For India, a home series against the Netherlands was the lone competitive event and a win by two matches to nil in four matches was commendable given the status of the Dutch in world hockey.

Then came the series against Pakistan – a landmark event to resume sporting ties between the neighbours. India held their own in the first two matches – losing the opener in front of a sell-out crowd at the Wankhede stadium in Mumbai 1-2 and the second 2-3 in Bengaluru.

The third match in Lahore ended 0-6 and a scoreline of such a nature brought the memories of Montreal and a similar drubbing at the hands of Australia flooding back. A 2-1 win over Pakistan in the final match in Karachi began a roller coaster ride that would last until the World Cup.

Machinations off the pitch didn’t help the cause. Wrangling between the Indian Olympic Association and the Indian Hockey Federation, much of it over the issue of money, almost saw an encore of 1975 that very nearly denied India entry to the World Cup they eventually won.

Then, there was dissension within the ranks. Three stalwarts – Varinder Singh, Surjit Singh and Baldev Singh – abandoned the camp. Govinda, the country’s foremost centre-forward, then quit the camp when denied captaincy and it left VJ Philips, arguably the finest right-winger of the time, to lead a depleted team low on morale to the World Cup.

En route to Buenos Aires, India lost 1-2 to England in a friendly – the first ever defeat sustained against that country – and it looked like the team would register several dubious firsts by the time they were back home from the World Cup.

The 1978 World Cup was held on lush green natural grass pitches that withstood a deluge on the opening day of the competition – scenes reminiscent of Kuala Lumpur where the organisers fought tooth and nail against the weather gods.

But action duly began and for India it was a sedate start. A 1-0 win over Belgium may have been scratchy but two points in the kitty was all that mattered. Canada was next up and most fans would have jotted down another two.

That was not to be. Babes in international hockey, Canada stunned the defending “World Champions” 3-1 and the roller coaster ride resumed.

Expectations against Australia, silver medallists at Montreal 1976 and India’s nemesis, would have been at an all time low. But, ludicrously, India beat the Aussies 2-0. In retrospect, a significant victory over a team that eventually finished with the bronze medal. West Germany, the other fancied team, however, lay in wait. What followed was one of the most depressing chapters in Indian hockey history. The Germans pulverised India 7-0, a scoreline that equalled the 1975 champions’ largest win in the competition till date (against Ghana, at the third World Cup).

Beaten black and blue, demoralized and devasted, it seemed incredible that India were still in it – indeed they came within five minutes of making the semi-finals but England’s equalizer to make it 1-1 and split points shunted the defending champions out of the race for gold.

After beating Argentina 3-2 in the crossover, sixth place following a 0-2 defeat to Spain scripted another sorry chapter in the country’s hockey history but the demise of one Asian nation was compensated by its arch rivals rise to glory.

Pakistan regained the title after seven years with a thrilling 3-2 win over 1973 champions The Netherlands, a result enabling the Green Shirts to go one better than at Kuala Lumpur. Excelling in all facets of the game, Pakistan scored 35 and conceded just four goals in 575 minutes of play but what the statistics don’t reveal is the attractiveness of their game highlighted by a dream forward line that boasted Islahuddin, Manzoor Jr, Hanif Khan, Shahnaz Shaikh and Samiullah Khan.

After breezing through six pool matches, Pakistan showed mental strength and endurance to beat West Germany by the lone goal in extra-time after goalkeeper Wolfgang Rott denied their five-pronged attack the winner until the 83rd minute. Playing an ultra-attacking brand of hockey with all the trappings of sublime subcontinental skills, the Pakistanis led by Islahuddin drew plaudits from all quarters – notably from Cesar Menotti, manager of the Argentine football squad preparing for the gargantuan football World Cup at home later that year.

Menotti reportedly flew down to meet with Abdul Waheed Khan, manager of Pakistan, to discuss tactics he felt relevant to football, given the two sports’ basic similarities.

While Pakistan basked in glory, India returned home, dazed and disillusioned. The tragedies concerning Babu and Bobby added to the gloom and despair. As the year wore on, India came within a whisker of providing themselves some soothing balm for Buenos Aires at the 1978 Bangkok Asian Games but fell short, losing to Pakistan 0-1 in the final.

Pakistan’s celebrated their Buenos Aires success with the institution of the Champions Trophy, a league for the top six nations and the inaugural edition was held in Lahore towards the end of the year.

India, pulled out of the event, thus denying themselves the chance to rebuild in the company of the world’s elite. An unsavoury end to a dismal year.