Lost in Germany

Let us take the issue to the experts. Former Olympian and gold medal winning skipper Gurbux Singh just can8217;t be happy. Not that he can ever be, if he matches up to his high and exacting standards, but 8220;this is inexplicable,8221; he says. 8220;Those were the days when you were penalised for manufacturing penalty corners. It was looked down upon and we were taught to avoid such moves,8221; says Gurbux. 8220;Now the rules have changed, and creating a penalty corner is considered an art. It is considered part of gameplan, you just hit onto some legs and there you have it! I was surprised to see even the Dutch take up this strategy! Who are we not to?8221;

Ok, so we, in India, still teach the kids the essentials of passivity. We croak into defensive formations, almost guilty of having scored early, and are almost always punished.

Then there is this curious problem of conceding last-minute goals. More often than not, this has resulted in the team8217;s loss. Not a very healthy way to go out, really. However, the general feeling and understanding is that there isn8217;t too much of hockey involved in this regular, late capitulation. It8217;s got more to do with spunk, with 8220;himmat8221;, as former great Ashok Kumar likes to put it.

Getting in the front is a great feeling, but a scary feeling too. It8217;s 8220;leadership position8221;, and for a long time Indians have forgotten how to stay there, way ahead of the rest, right at the top. Not complacency exactly, it8217;s when the fear creeps in. 8220;Woh dar jaate hein,8221; says Gurbux. 8220;That is a very unusual position, and it8217;s up there in the mind, where you can8217;t accept it.8221; 8220;This bunch, in logon mein dam ki kami hain,8221; adds Kumar. 8220;They do not have the commitment. It8217;s a question of pride, and that8217;s not there.8221;

Point taken, but what happened to all the 8220;himmat8221; of hockey8217;s golden era? Where did it so suddenly disappear? Or were there any expediting reasons?

Possibly, there were. First and foremost, of course, will be the coach and his stature. The IHF has definitely reduced the stature of the coach with frequent sackings, so much so that the player isn8217;t really worried about what a coach says. He is sure he will outlive the coach in the squad. 8220;That is the problem of discipline that we need to tackle,8221; says Kumar, adding, 8220;Look, a coach can teach, groom, and make one understand the good and the bad, but that8217;s about it. The stars tend to outgrow their boots and treat the coach as a trainer. Then it8217;s chaos.8221;

Qualifying these three aspects, you can come to a very broad conclusion on how we can utilise the rules to our advantage and on how we can grow mentally, be strong enough to be leaders and how we can obey as well. There seems to be this self-created glass ceiling for India in hockey today, and it8217;s up to us to break that.

All that is assuming the team is physically fit enough to accept such changes. The Koreans are a case in point. They surfaced, virtually out of nowhere, at the Hiroshima Asian Games, showing commando-like preparation, and thereafter have taken the world by storm. Their hockey skills? Not many people are willing to talk about that, but it hardly bothers the Koreans.

Indians, physically, are still two decades in arrears, at least.

Let us get deeper into the physical and fear aspect: When Jugraj Singh was fit and at his peak before his accident, he was the rallying point of the team. Those were also the days when the drag-flick had just become fanciful and rules allowed the defenders to charge out to the flick.

While the Koreans, unbelievably, were taking the shots on their bodies, there was this one Indian 8212; Jugraj 8212; who didn8217;t think twice about the same approach. Dark spots on his torso would bear witness to that. That apart, he had learnt the drag-flick and the defence well. This one man was adrenaline enough, pride and courage enough for the entire team.

That edge has been blunted. One alternative was Sandeep Singh, the kid of yesterday, the strapping youngster of today, shaping into the Jugraj mould. A stray bullet pushed him out of action, yet the bigger blow was that India lost a leader.

It8217;s an admission by many: Skipper Dilip Tirkey is a great defender, but does not have that 8216;leader8217; aura. And the coach Vasudevan Baskaran, in this case has been marginalised anyway.

This indiscipline pours onto the field 8220;and we see the players chase the umpires on trivial pretexts, get yellow-carded and move out,8221; says Kumar. 8220;Which umpire would want to get beaten up?8221; Hence, sitting out with a yellow card, you either miss that scoring opportunity or miss being able to hold fort to an attack. Where are the grey cells?

The Indian Hockey Federation has never really gone deep, or looked in to see why this malaise exists. One would be tempted to believe that this cerebral deficiency could extend way beyond the team ranks, and up into the power corridors of the system. Why else, with money pouring in, and with cricket offering a fine role model, are ageing head honchos refusing to mould new outfits?

The scariest part of it all, and everybody feels likewise, is that this probably is the best team we have at the moment. 8220;That8217;s what we have to make do with,8221; says Gurbux. Of course the IHF hasn8217;t invested in developing a second string. That would be too many grey cells to handle.

GOING, GOING, GONE

Indian story at the group stage:

MATCH 1:

Germany bt India 3-2

Christopher Zeller puts Germans ahead 27th minute, Shivendra Singh equalises 57th. Then, it8217;s Oliver Hentschel8217;s turn for Germany 59th and Shivendra again 64th. Then, virtually with the whistle, Zeller makes a draw a win.

MATCH 2:

England bt India 3-2

India 1-0 via Sivendra Singh 28th minute, James Tindall 53th equalises and Simon Mantell 57th makes it 2-1. Mantell is allowed in again and England are 3-1 61th before Dilip Tirkey 66th makes it 3-2.

MATCH 3:

South Africa hold India 1-1
Least expected result. Ignace Tirkey puts India ahead 14th minute. Six minutes to whistle, Ian Symons makes it 1-1.

MATCH 4:

Korea bt India 2-1

Shivendra Singh 46 puts India ahead and then Jong Hyun-jang gets a free, fast run 63, 69. Early lead thrown away.

MATCH 5:

Holland bt India 6-1

Here too, unbelievably Dilip Tirkey neutralises Taeke Taekema8217;s 13th minute goal. Taekema runs riot 15th, 26th,30th, 65th, with Roderick Weusthof 59th.