Last time India won any major tournament in Hockey was the World Cup in 1975, in Kuala Lumpur, under the captainship of Ajit Pal Singh. That was eons ago and many who would be reading this weren't even born.
India did win Moscow Olympics gold in 1980, however it was not a normal tournament, severly curtailed due to the boycott by the then hockey powerhouses of West Germany, Australia, Pakistan and Netherlands.
Moscow Olympics was followed by India hosting the World Cup tournament in 1981-82. It was perhaps the last World Cup played on grass surface. Led by the fiery finisher Hassan Sardar, Pakistan defeated West Germany 5-3 in the finals.
The gritty Germans hit back through their hard hitting German skipper and Penalty Corner specialist Michael Peter, who scored a hat trick. But it wasn't enough to stop the marauding Pakistani forwards.
Pakistan continued its good form, whereas India's started declining. The difference between the traditional rivals was the finishing inside the D, from where you are allowed to score goals in Hockey. Pakistani forwards Hassan Sardar and later Shahbaz Ahmed would create havoc inside the oppoents D. Indian fowrards though fast, fumbled way too often inside the D and lost their way.
Another weak link of India was its weakness to convert Penalty Corners into goals, a uniquely valuable goal scoring opportunity. The Dutch Paul Litjens, Jan Bovelander, the Germans Michael Peter, Carsten Fisher, all were accurate, hitting the ball at devaststing speed and scoring tons of goals.
The talented Pakistani PC expert Shoail Abbas, though not as fast as Europeans was an outstanding drag and flick Specialist, who was considered one of the best in the history of hickey. He would hold his nerve inside the D and wait for that split second to drag and flick into the goal.
As hockey slowly shifted to Synthetic Turf, so also the advantage to the Europeans and the Australians. Yet the Pakistanis, gifted by its talented strikers continued their good form. Led by the indomitable Hassan Sardar they won the hockey gold in 1984, where all major powers participated.
Pakistan, with players like Shahbaz Ahmed, Wasim Feroze and Shohail Abbas continued to give the Europeans and the Australians run for money. They went to the finals of World Cup in 1989-90. They also won a bronze in 1992, Barcelona Olympics.
But in spite of having world class players like Mohammed Shahid, Pargat Singh and Dhanraj Pillai and flashes of brilliance, hockey India continued on its path towards decline. The reasons are multiple. Hockey is never a mass sports in any nation but the limited resources were managed well by their boards.
This is where Indian Hockey Federation, known to be both inept and corrupt, failed spectacularly. I don't want to dig much into it, but KPS Gill, the Punjab super cop's handling of terrorism automatically qualified him to be IHF chief. During his tenure it was rumored that Scotch flowed liberally IHF meetings held in the upper floors of 5 star hotels, where as the ground reality was he failed to resuscitate Indian hockey.
In this context, India reaching the finals of a major tournament after a long time is quite significant. Hockey is going through an interesting phase. The Dutch and Spain aren't in best form. Germany looks wobbly. Only Australia still retains its edge, a perennial thorn in Indian flesh, whether it is cricket or hockey, and not to mention Belgium - the new rising kid in the block.
The Indian team will be the underdogs against their more fancied rival from "Down Under" tonight. Irrespective of the results of the final - there is a lots of positives from team India which bodes well for the future. If sustained on the long run, rest assured we should be back among the rest of the top notch - the perfect boost ahead of the Rio Olympics.
India did win Moscow Olympics gold in 1980, however it was not a normal tournament, severly curtailed due to the boycott by the then hockey powerhouses of West Germany, Australia, Pakistan and Netherlands.
Moscow Olympics was followed by India hosting the World Cup tournament in 1981-82. It was perhaps the last World Cup played on grass surface. Led by the fiery finisher Hassan Sardar, Pakistan defeated West Germany 5-3 in the finals.
The gritty Germans hit back through their hard hitting German skipper and Penalty Corner specialist Michael Peter, who scored a hat trick. But it wasn't enough to stop the marauding Pakistani forwards.
Pakistan continued its good form, whereas India's started declining. The difference between the traditional rivals was the finishing inside the D, from where you are allowed to score goals in Hockey. Pakistani forwards Hassan Sardar and later Shahbaz Ahmed would create havoc inside the oppoents D. Indian fowrards though fast, fumbled way too often inside the D and lost their way.
Another weak link of India was its weakness to convert Penalty Corners into goals, a uniquely valuable goal scoring opportunity. The Dutch Paul Litjens, Jan Bovelander, the Germans Michael Peter, Carsten Fisher, all were accurate, hitting the ball at devaststing speed and scoring tons of goals.
The talented Pakistani PC expert Shoail Abbas, though not as fast as Europeans was an outstanding drag and flick Specialist, who was considered one of the best in the history of hickey. He would hold his nerve inside the D and wait for that split second to drag and flick into the goal.
As hockey slowly shifted to Synthetic Turf, so also the advantage to the Europeans and the Australians. Yet the Pakistanis, gifted by its talented strikers continued their good form. Led by the indomitable Hassan Sardar they won the hockey gold in 1984, where all major powers participated.
Pakistan, with players like Shahbaz Ahmed, Wasim Feroze and Shohail Abbas continued to give the Europeans and the Australians run for money. They went to the finals of World Cup in 1989-90. They also won a bronze in 1992, Barcelona Olympics.
But in spite of having world class players like Mohammed Shahid, Pargat Singh and Dhanraj Pillai and flashes of brilliance, hockey India continued on its path towards decline. The reasons are multiple. Hockey is never a mass sports in any nation but the limited resources were managed well by their boards.
This is where Indian Hockey Federation, known to be both inept and corrupt, failed spectacularly. I don't want to dig much into it, but KPS Gill, the Punjab super cop's handling of terrorism automatically qualified him to be IHF chief. During his tenure it was rumored that Scotch flowed liberally IHF meetings held in the upper floors of 5 star hotels, where as the ground reality was he failed to resuscitate Indian hockey.
In this context, India reaching the finals of a major tournament after a long time is quite significant. Hockey is going through an interesting phase. The Dutch and Spain aren't in best form. Germany looks wobbly. Only Australia still retains its edge, a perennial thorn in Indian flesh, whether it is cricket or hockey, and not to mention Belgium - the new rising kid in the block.
The Indian team will be the underdogs against their more fancied rival from "Down Under" tonight. Irrespective of the results of the final - there is a lots of positives from team India which bodes well for the future. If sustained on the long run, rest assured we should be back among the rest of the top notch - the perfect boost ahead of the Rio Olympics.
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