National Shame

I knew that it was only a matter time before some joker would start blaming Cricket for the debacle of Hockey.

That Government's more emphasis on Cricket, that media's too much attention towards Cricket, that sponsor's more money for the Cricket, and that public craze for this game is killing other games, apart from Hockey, of course!

What they don't know is that BCCI, like IHF, is not government controlled body. It is a private organisation. Till less than a decade ago, it was almost as bad in functioning as IHF.

Don't put moral burden on the public, they are not going to watch a bunch of pathetic losers, who don't even know where their leg is! A sport itself has to lift itself. They have to win something to attract public eyeballs. Media and sponsors are not here for charity. They ain't doing any favour to Cricket. They are here to make money. If there are no eye balls, they simply don't care.

Anyway, money doesn't improve any game. Winning, or at least passion for winning does. If that was so, why is Pakistan not doing as badly in Hockey? If that was so, why did India do so good 50 years back, when there was no money? If that was so, United States of America would excel in every sport, while Africans would have always done badly in long distance running.

Cricket was doing more badly than Hockey till 1983. In the movie Golmaal, there was a live Hockey match - not Cricket, remember? Hip Hip Hurray had Football. Not many use to watch Cricket. Why ?

Before the emergence of Sunil Gavaskar, we mostly lost. Then came Kapil Dev and World Cup victory, followed by Champions Trophy. I myself watched it as a 8 year old kid. Meanwhile, India lost miserably at Los Angles Olympics, 1984 in Hockey.

Naturally, I picked up the bat, not Hockey and so did Sachin Tendulkar. Then Reliance World Cup came to India. Why did it come to India ? Because we won the two major championships in succession. There was press coverage everywhere of the tournament. My father got interested, and with double whammy of Ramayana, we bought out first telivision set - a B&W, portable, UPTRON.

Not even then the money came to Cricket. I remember Bishon Singh Bedi once ruefully mentioning during an interview that they were paid daily allowance for the Test matches. Once they won a match in 3 days, they were not given any allowance for remaining two days! Great incentive for winning matches! Money only came with the advent of cable telivision in mid 90s.

Goverment doesn't do a great about Golf but why are we doing so well there ? Why we excelled in Snooker, Billiards, Shooting. What help did it provide to Leander, Sania and Vishwnath Anand? Do we see the pattern?

Its not about the goverment, its about us. It is about parents. The earlier we introduce a child to a sport, the greatest is the chance to find a talent. Unless people themself don't be proactive about sporting activities, and begin to respect it, we won't find champions. And why will they do so? It will happen by seeing the teams doing well - getting fame, respect and money.

Luck will play a major role by throwing out genius like it did when we had Sachin Tendulkar, Sunil Gavaskar, Kapil Dev, Prakash Padukone, Vishwanath Anand, Leander Paes etc. We need another Dhanraj Pillai and Jugraj Singh in Hockey. People will see them and get inspired. And its not only the youngsters I am talking here. There parents need to be inspired first.

The Gold Hunt - Hockey

For quiet a few, the heading it self may seem far fetched, me included. I want to assess the realistic chances of India attaining any medal at Athens. I begin with Hockey not because India has the maximum chance in it but simply for the historical reasons.

We are the country whose national sport is Hockey(the only Gold fetching event so far) and who have won the gold most number of times, albeit the last on was 24 years back in Moscow Olympics. We must also note that due to cold war, many (9 to be precise) prominent team did not compete in this US-led boycott of the 1980 Olympic Games. The boycotting teams included the top 3 teams at Montreal, 1976 - New Zealand (gold), Australia (silver) and Pakistan (bronze). Germany, Holland and Great Britain opted out as well. So no big deal at all.

What are the current chances? We are in Group B with Holland, Australia, Argentina, South Africa and New Zealand. A tough group but not as much as the Group A - the group of the death this time. It has Pakistan, Germany, Spain, South Korea, Egypt and Great Britain. For India, there two key games. The first one against Holland especially, and the one against Aussies. That's because these two are the major contenders for the semifinal spot. Rest of them are as good or bad as India. If India is doesn't lose(wins or draws) both of these matches and wins rest of it's matches, the chance of semi-final berth are bright.

One year back, I would have put it not beyond India. They had drawn and defeated Australia in their country. They had defeated Pakistan everywhere. But more recently i.e. 2 months back, they were in shambles. Infighting, bad planning had thrown them into a incoherent unit. After that, the have regrouped a bit. They have given good performances in Europe, especially against Germany, a freak loss to Ireland notwithstanding.

Penlaty Corner
Playing eleven does not look formidable enough, but with some planning, they might click. They have surprised every one in past. Loss of Jugraj Singh is a big blow but India has to get over that. He could have proved very valuable with his drag flicks and penalty corner saves. He is live wire in the field. Unfortunately, we don't have his replacement. The problem of a missing drag flicker in Indian Hockey team is as compelling as that of a missing wicket keeper in Indian Cricket team. Sandeep Mishra from under 19 will be the drag flicker for us.

India is terrible in earning penalty corners. And even of they earn, the hardly convert. Mishra and Dileep Turkey would be the key.

Goal Keeper
Goalkeeper Devesh Chauhan, who was one man army at defense till six months back is out of sorts. He and Jugraj were the reason behind India's recent success. He needs to get his confidence and movements back. His form will largely decide India's reach.

Forwards
As far as forwards are concerned, Dhanraj is our main hope. Although, he is past his prime and has lost much of his speed, he still makes good moves. His and Sachin's careers have tread similar path but like Sachin, he still instills tremendous respect and fear amongst the opponents. They waste at least two defenders marking him. If he can release ball a little bit earlier, it will be good for the team.

Gagan Ajit Singh has to move on from his reverse hits. After those two breathtaking reverse flicked goals last year against Pakistan, he tries to take most of his hits on the reverse, only. Need to get out of that fast. We don't need these self plays. Deepak Thakur is Ok, though his finishing leaves a lot to be desired. Same is the case with Dhillon. The least I say about Prabhjot Singh is the better. A good for nothing player. Hardly maneuvers any move and can't hit even in a empty post. He should have been dispensed with a long time back.

Defense
Defense is solely in hand of Dileep Turkey because rest of them slept through out the champions trophy and Olympic qualifiers. Neither, can they take their foot out of the way, nor can they tackle the ball away. Captain has to take the reins and marshal the rest of the sweeper backs. Last six months, India have been conceding too many goals and penalty corners- and major culprit is the shoddy defending. They cover the ball instead of opposition forwards, in the process, giving them free hits.

This doesn't give a rosy picture, but as I said earlier - the team has the surprise element and let's hope the team surprises us big time, this time. A lot of that depends upon the strategy and the start. I think Jagbir Singh and the little known German coach Gerhard Rach, are equal to the task. Go India go!

Cricket Vs Hockey : Case Study

There are two news items which provide contrasting case study  on the state of organization of Cricket and Hockey in India. News items in question are

a- India vs.  Australia Test series venue and schedule have been just announced.
b- India Hockey Coach, Rajinder Pal Singh has been sacked.

You might wonder what is the contrast over here. Let  me explain. Athens Olympics are not even a month away. This is the time for making strategies, training and fitness camps. Team,  which only an year back,  had shocked the whole hockey world and more so, even it's own countrymen,  with it's performance in Champions Trophy, won Asia Cup defeating Pakistan, emerged victorious in Four Nations cup, Down Under, is currently in tatters.  They have lost to Pakistan five times in a row this year.

They can't blame lack of sponsorship this time. Sahara is overpaying them. The infighting between players and coaches, players themselves and autocratic policies of IHF has taken their  toll on their game. As if this was not enough,  the coach was sacked at the eleventh hour. Now, not only they'll  have to make fresh strategies,  fresh training plans, they'll also have to learn to communicate with the coach. Many players are not very comfortable with English.

In contrast,  just look how shrewdly did BCCI plan the iternary of the Test series in favour of the home  country.  All the matches are below the Tropic of Cancer, where at that time of the year, weather is still on hotter side. Trust Chennai and Mumbai to be hot and humid, while Nagpur is always at extreme temperatures. Only Banglore is the lone exception where the weather will suite Aussies. They also have an unbeaten record there.

Both the events are equally big for India, but one administration has planned in right earnest while other is at it's reckless self.  It pains to see they way national sport is going despite the promise.  Can't put a medal hope on it.