Day of Indian hockey’s greatest triumph, and a new beginning

Uthra G Chaturvedi

While a few stalwarts of Indian hockey’s golden era spent the day recalling the country’s only World Cup triumph, which was achieved exactly 36 years back to a day, the national team were busy chasing more modest dreams. Unlike the lofty heights that the Class of ’75 achieved, the team being trained by coach Harendra Singh was getting ready to make an impact at the Sultan Azlan Shah tournament in May and, more importantly, the Olympic qualifiers at home in February next year.

Harendra agrees that the slide has been pretty long but is optimistic about the future. “We will work in a positive way and try to avoid the past negatives and try to build a good dressing room atmosphere,” he said. Considering that the game is currently involved in an administrative tug-of-war, the coach has a tough job at hand.

Those who were part of the 1975 win, on the other hand, insist that, apart from talent, what actually worked for them was the firm belief that they could win. “From the moment we got together for our pre-World Cup camp in Chandigarh, we were confident of winning. Not that the other teams were less skillful or anything; but we were targetting gold, nothing else,” says HJS Chimni, member of the victorious squad.

“If a myth is told repeatedly, it becomes the truth. Similarly, we kept telling ourselves we will win. The trophy, nothing else. By the time we landed in Malaysia, we had worked ourselves up so much that not winning did not remain an option,” he says, adding, “It can only be a coincidence that the Indian camp is starting on the day we won the title in 1975. And if it’s an omen, I only hope that this new beginning in Indian hockey marks the country’s climb back to the top in the sport.”

As for the present team, it’s been more than three months since they last stepped on the field, at the Asian Games. And Harendra doesn’t mince words when he says that the break should have been shorter. “It will take some time to get them back in the groove. We have already lost a lot of time, while almost all the major teams in the world are already busy touring and preparing for the Olympics,” he says.

Harendra, though, insists that he will make the best of the time he has with the players — less than 10 months, to be exact. “I will suggest to both the federation and the SAI that we need to play as much as possible against the best teams. And for that, Australia is the best option, both for practice and as an opponent. It won’t be the first time we will make our base there either; we used to regularly do so in the 70s and 80s. Our target should be the Olympics, not even the qualifiers,” he says.