Sunday,10th Feb 2008 dubbed as one of the most grevious day of the Indian hockey, deserves to be rightly called so.But blaming it on the players should be last thing on our minds,for its more of the Indian Hockey Federation(IHF) dismal "thinking"(if u may call them "thoughtful") that led to the collapse of the once glorious and cherished sport .
India for the first time, since 80 years, starting from the 1920's(1928 precisely) have been knocked in the Olympic qualifiers. Though a more readily available faction may comment frantically on the poor show of the Indian players when it most mattered, the biting reality is the "dark"(disturbingly unscrupulous) administration of the management going on for nearly a couple of decades that led to, above all, that led to the physchological downfall of the players.
During the late 1980's, Indian hockey was on a losing spree. It took the year of 1991 to fend some starfall on an otherwise gloomy sport. A cracker of a shot from Mukesh Shah,a young winger made all the difference in the Azlan Shah Cup, that carved out the fabulous victory for India against arch rivals Pakistan. A few days later a handful of journalists enquired about the match fees and rewards that might be offered to the Indian players on this account to the then federation President, Raghu Nandan Prasad. Back came his crude reply," I gave them air tickets, organized board and lodging. Aur Kya doon?(What else should i give?)Taj Mahal?". The reporters were shocked but even more shocking news was to follow soon. Reports later indicated that the team's tickets were instead brought by the HRD ministry and that Prasad was merely bluffing. Also it was the Malaysian organisers that took care of the players' boarding and lodging. Following a 'national outcry', Prasad was later forced to annouce a sum of 1 lakh to the team though i doubt if it ever arrived[citation needed].
Coming back to "our very own" Mr K.P.S. Gill "sahab"(regional slang intended), he once told a news magazine that match fees was BRIBERY. When he made that comment the IPL hadn't yet started. "Wonder what he has got to say now". I truly admire Dhanraj Pillay for what he did might not be viewed as the wisest thing to do but nonetheless he stood up for something he believed. As the captain of the team, he organized a protest on the eve of the India-Pakistan Series in 1998, but incidentally our Gill "sahab" refused to "bribe" them. And despite winning the Gold at the Asian Games after a gap of 32 years,which i reckon didn't appease our Gill "sahab" well enough,six players were sacked. In this way, he demolished another protest to be before the advent of another series thus dissipating the swords that were once drawn by Dhanraj Pillai. The telecast rights of the series were sold to Doordarshan, that too after paying a hefty 20% commission. Once journalists got an interesting fact that Gill "sahab" spent 7.8 lakhs on telephone bills and a miserly 2.5lakhs on players' welfare.[citation needed]
The Chilean chills probably did the job for the already demoralized Indian team that once held its head high in the international arena, thanks to the "unfaithful" federation, now rank as one of the underdogs of the truly glorious sport.
However we do seem to see some different equations with the federation now that there is a rumour that Indian hockey might select a new IHF president with the immediate removal of the in-command Mr Gill, though their is no guarantee that this is a wiser move with the advent of coming of Mr Mani Shankar Aiyar, Sports Minister who seems to be the most likely candidate for the post herewith. With the recent incident in mind and the rousing of national conciousness hopefully Indian hockey is taking its first steps towards a new beginning. However the debacle over whether the Indian team will be ever able to rise to its former glory remains uncertain and gloomy. Only time will tell whether we move forth in the right direction or still take another despondent move towards yet another dead end.
India for the first time, since 80 years, starting from the 1920's(1928 precisely) have been knocked in the Olympic qualifiers. Though a more readily available faction may comment frantically on the poor show of the Indian players when it most mattered, the biting reality is the "dark"(disturbingly unscrupulous) administration of the management going on for nearly a couple of decades that led to, above all, that led to the physchological downfall of the players.
During the late 1980's, Indian hockey was on a losing spree. It took the year of 1991 to fend some starfall on an otherwise gloomy sport. A cracker of a shot from Mukesh Shah,a young winger made all the difference in the Azlan Shah Cup, that carved out the fabulous victory for India against arch rivals Pakistan. A few days later a handful of journalists enquired about the match fees and rewards that might be offered to the Indian players on this account to the then federation President, Raghu Nandan Prasad. Back came his crude reply," I gave them air tickets, organized board and lodging. Aur Kya doon?(What else should i give?)Taj Mahal?". The reporters were shocked but even more shocking news was to follow soon. Reports later indicated that the team's tickets were instead brought by the HRD ministry and that Prasad was merely bluffing. Also it was the Malaysian organisers that took care of the players' boarding and lodging. Following a 'national outcry', Prasad was later forced to annouce a sum of 1 lakh to the team though i doubt if it ever arrived[citation needed].
Coming back to "our very own" Mr K.P.S. Gill "sahab"(regional slang intended), he once told a news magazine that match fees was BRIBERY. When he made that comment the IPL hadn't yet started. "Wonder what he has got to say now". I truly admire Dhanraj Pillay for what he did might not be viewed as the wisest thing to do but nonetheless he stood up for something he believed. As the captain of the team, he organized a protest on the eve of the India-Pakistan Series in 1998, but incidentally our Gill "sahab" refused to "bribe" them. And despite winning the Gold at the Asian Games after a gap of 32 years,which i reckon didn't appease our Gill "sahab" well enough,six players were sacked. In this way, he demolished another protest to be before the advent of another series thus dissipating the swords that were once drawn by Dhanraj Pillai. The telecast rights of the series were sold to Doordarshan, that too after paying a hefty 20% commission. Once journalists got an interesting fact that Gill "sahab" spent 7.8 lakhs on telephone bills and a miserly 2.5lakhs on players' welfare.[citation needed]
The Chilean chills probably did the job for the already demoralized Indian team that once held its head high in the international arena, thanks to the "unfaithful" federation, now rank as one of the underdogs of the truly glorious sport.
However we do seem to see some different equations with the federation now that there is a rumour that Indian hockey might select a new IHF president with the immediate removal of the in-command Mr Gill, though their is no guarantee that this is a wiser move with the advent of coming of Mr Mani Shankar Aiyar, Sports Minister who seems to be the most likely candidate for the post herewith. With the recent incident in mind and the rousing of national conciousness hopefully Indian hockey is taking its first steps towards a new beginning. However the debacle over whether the Indian team will be ever able to rise to its former glory remains uncertain and gloomy. Only time will tell whether we move forth in the right direction or still take another despondent move towards yet another dead end.
