Star-less india need to inspire

For a majority of Indians, the enduring image of Indian hockey remains a fleet-footed, long-haired Dhanraj Pillay dribbling the ball past the opposition in a flash and shooting past flat-footed custodians. For followers in the east, the picture might change to the stubborn but lithe Dilip Tirkey holding up the defence, organising his troops against rapid counter-attacks.

Unfortunately, both images date back at least 4-5 years, and neither player is part of the current Indian squad. Since then, there have been no faces to replace them as much-needed icons for the Indian sports lover.

The hockey World Cup returns to India after 28 years but for the national sport, it may well turn out to be yet another lost opportunity to regain a foothold in the common man’s consciousness. With unprecedented security restrictions on teams and the media, there has been no protracted campaign to sell the game, and no attempts made to encourage the public to come out and watch the side play. The reasons given for keeping the media out are security, but oddly enough, Hockey India, the government and SAI have denied having anything to do with the decision.

The fact that the sponsor-driven television campaign uses a cricketer (Virender Sehwag), a shooting star (Rajyavardhan Rathore) and an actor (Priyanka Chopra) to sell the sport says how faceless the team themselves have become. “It’s sad but true,” says Olympian Viren Rasquinha, currently the CFO of Olympic Gold Quest. “I personally feel that stars or icons are not born, they are made. We need to build up players enough to ensure they are recognisable on the streets.

“In India, however, the players have always been very insecure, they have never been allowed to become the kind of household names they could have. When someone did, he was cut to size. A Deepak Thakur or an Adrian D’Souza or a Sandeep Singh may be known in hockey circles, or the sporting circles at the most. But they are not names that trigger off discussions on the streets. If at all they are talked about, it’s in a negative way — when they are treated badly and go on strike for example. But ask a person to walk into a stadium for a match and the first question is most likely to be: who is playing? We don’t have an answer to that. What we need are positive role models so that a youngster tomorrow would be proud to say that he plays hockey,” he adds.

Jagbir Singh, Hockey India’s director of planning, agrees. He says that as far as marketing of the sport is concerned, it is a disadvantage not to have a saleable name. But in terms of competition, it may also work in the team’s favour. “Without a known face, the team has a better chance to succeed as a unit and not depend on one person. The opposition will also not concentrate on neutralising any individual player,” he says. But he does admit that, off the field, there are no names that can draw in the crowds, though he names Prabhjot Singh and Sandeep Singh as having the potential.

Rasquinha admits that not too many hockey players are savvy enough to sell themselves. “It is the federation’s job to market the sport, and the sports management companies to take them on board. Whenever there is any controversy, the rule of thumb here is to gag the players. That’s not the way to go about things. Instead, the federation should look to set up a system to groom players on how to speak.”

Rasquinha also feels that the absence of major victories in recent times has been a reason. “Even Germany does not have an individual star. But they have the performances that negate any need for one. In our case, sadly, there are no stars because of no major achievement, and so no sponsorship… and so no stars,” he says.

Percept MD Shailendra Singh agrees. “As of now, there is no player who can be sold as the face of the sport in India. But you need to have a publicist to keep the players in the limelight. It was only during the crisis in Pune that people knew about the Indian players and it was a pleasant surprise to see so many of them being so articulate.”