In the last 48 hours, the Indian hockey team played some its best matches in contemporary hockey. But sadly it will all go unnoticed since there was no live coverage on television of these international matches. Today, the Indians were scintillating in their 4-1 victory over the Latin American power - Argentina in the opening match of the Hamburg Masters in Germany. The highlight of the victory was that three of the goals came through penalty corners, an area in which the Indians have been found wanting in the past. And the more heartening thing was the fact that the three goals came from different penalty corner experts, under grooming for Athens Olympics. On Wednesday, the Indian team held world champion and hosts Germany 2-2 with just eight members on the field in the one-off Test at Diesberg. But are the fans aware about the heroics of their players? It is rare for an Indian team to even draw with Germany, who are the leading force in the world today. So far, India has beaten Germany only 14 times in 70 matches. Both the matches - and the three-nation tournament win at Australia recently - would have been ideal advertisement for Indian hockey if they were shown on television. Modern hockey with its fluctuating drama and high intensity for 70 minutes is just apt for TV coverage but there is so much complacency within the Indian Hockey Federation (IHF) that all the above mentioned heroics have gone unnoticed. So far, the IHF has not even considered it important to approach any private sports channel or the public broadcaster - Doordarshan - for live coverage of India’s international matches. Instead of blaming the sponsors, media and cricket for overshadowing other sport, KPS Gill could use his huge clout with the public broadcaster to highlight the achievement of his team. This young Indian team could be the last hope for hockey’s survival in the subcontinent — recently they beat World Cup runners-up Australia, have beaten Pakistan thrice in the last few months, won the silver at Asian Games and finished fourth in the Champions Trophy. As one of the players, who spoke from Hamburg said, ‘‘The match against Germany was all about our fighting spirit. The umpiring was bad, we had heated exchange with the umpire but we were not going to disappoint people back home. To draw with Germany on their own ground is an achievement.’’ Now, Mr Gill needs to ensure that the world gets to know about his boys’ achievement.
