August 24, 2004

The sorry state of Indian Hockey

The midfielders of the past who could collect and pass on to the strikers while on the move were indeed responsible for the eight olympic gold medals that we gloat about.

It now becomes progressively more embarrassing, especially as an Indian, to note the successive failures of the once powerful team. The team, which once remained a nightmare, runs the risk of being termed mere pushovers. Insipid passes, unnecessary shots at the post (which have as much chance as my grand mom winning a marathon) are responsible for this debilitated image in the global front.

This article, however, is not aimed to take a dig at the abilities of the former powerhouse of the game. It’s about a more serious aspect- their attitude. The Indian hockey team seems to have grasped a lot of ideas from Indian politics. They have mastered the art of pacifying the angry supporters by a heart attack drama, which is so heavily used in the political front. Deepak thakur's admission into the ICU after the loss to New Zealand is certainly an act of cowardice.

They should have been brave enough to accept the ignominy and should have refrained from such low-level acts. The situation now looks fairly simple; Mr. Sunil Dutt will opine "The most important thing in Olympics is not winning, but participating". The issue will be hushed over and will soon be lost in the eternal gloom that surrounds our Indian sporting fraternity.

1 comment:

Sriram said...

Sad but true mostly. What people don't understand when they blame Indian sportsmen for losing is that Indian sportsmen dont lack spirit or the 'killer-instinct' - they just lack the kind of training and exposure the international players get.

For example, when I played basketball, our coach had us learning the basics well into my teens - where the kids abroad were learning set-pieces like pick-and-roll at the age of 12. So how would you expect us to compete?

Another reason would be that sport is not considered a viable career (probably except cricket). Nobody would allow their children to join a sports academy and study for a few hours a day and think of nothing but sports