The Hindu: Mukesh recalls Shahid’s magic

By V.V.Subrahmanyam

For triple Olympian and renowned right-winger of yesteryears, N. Mukesh Kumar, the great Mohammad Shahid scoring a fabulous goal for India in a hockey Test match against Pakistan, at the packed Lal Bahadur Stadium in 1986, is still fresh in memory. Interestingly, Mukesh was one of the ball boys as he was a Sports Hostel inmate then.

Now with Shahid battling for his life with a serious liver ailment, the 46-year-old Mukesh has decided to call on one of his childhood heroes at the earliest.

“It is sad that such an illustrious hockey player is struggling for life. I vividly remember his magic with the stick.

“I had not seen many in my international career (307 matches with 80 goals) who was as fast as Shahid. He was one of those who did not need someone to feed him with passes. He could just snatch the ball away from the 25-yard zone in a flash and have solo runs that left the opponents stunned,” Mukesh recalled with a great sense of pride.

“That out-of-the-world goal by Shahid, for whom speed was a forte, at the LB Stadium stands out fresh in my memory. The famous Shahid chop from the top of ‘D’, after an amazing run splitting the entire Pakistani defence, is not something which a coaching manual teaches you. He was a complete natural,” said Mukesh.

Mukesh was delighted to remind that Pakistani great Hasan Sardar also showed his class in that Test match. “But, I must tell you at the end of that match the packed crowd was only talking about the Shahid goal,” the former India captain recalled.

The genial Hyderabadi is hurt that Shahid was not given his due, despite being such a superstar, as the media coverage of hockey was not as good as it is today.

“Even in those days, Shahid, arguably the finest left-in of his times, was an introvert of sorts,” said the former Asian Games gold medallist.

“I wish Shahid had been named a brand ambassador for Indian hockey given his awesome reputation and simplicity.”