Former Indian captain V Baskaran still regrets losing the 1973 World Cup final against The Netherlands in Amstelveen:

“There are several incidents from my playing days that still cause some regret. For one, it was not possible to win every match and when that happens in a very close match, it can be very painful. One match that still haunts me is the 1973 World Cup final against The Netherlands in Amstelveen.

We would have won the encounter against the Dutch had BP Govinda converted a penalty at the death. We were leading 3-2 but two minutes before the final hooter, the Netherlands equalised. Immediately after they scored, we earned a penalty stroke but Govinda, of all people, squandered the chance. He was a brilliant player but somehow he failed to handle the pressure, else we would have won 4-3.

That pressure really got to us and despite having a few world-class penalty shooters, we also fumbled in the tiebreaker , missing two invaluable penalty strokes. We had the best team but probably were not destined to win the title. We had to wait till 1975.”