The biggest stage, the grandest of slams

TO my mind, the Champions Trophy is by far the toughest tournament to play in. Whereas you get a few light games at the World Cup, the Champ...

TO my mind, the Champions Trophy is by far the toughest tournament to play in. Whereas you get a few light games at the World Cup, the Champions Trophy is played only between the top six teams of the world. The competition is stiff, and it’s stiff right from the word go.

I had the honour of representing India at the World Cup and the Olympics, but when I was finally able to play at the Champions Trophy, it was a special feeling; like having completed the Grand Slam. I still remember the 1989 Champions Trophy I played in at Berlin. It was at the same stadium where ‘Dada’ Dhyan Chand, as we all called him, had single-handedly beaten the Germans in the 1936 Olympics in front of Adolf Hitler. The tournament wasn’t successful from our point of view — we finished fifth. But we did manage to beat Pakistan and in those days, beating Pakistan was considered the main task. It still is, but the hype was much more in those days.

There was quite a bit of excitement over the Indian team before the tournament. We had finished in the top six of the 1988 Olympics — it was quite a return after finishing last at the 1986 World Cup. A lot of the older players like Mohammed Shahid and Mervyn Fernandes had left the team and it was a relatively inexperienced side. We never thought of winning. But there was excitement among us.

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If I have to recall one incident from the meet I will never forget, it has to be the unusual goal we conceded in the match against Australia. It is something no player in the team has forgotten even though 14 years have passed since. We were awarded a penalty corner and it was taken by our expert MP Singh. However, MP’s hit rebounded from the Australian ’keeper’s pad and went straight to the centreline where Colin Bach picked up the ball and passed it from the right to Haigar who ran in to score a goal.

We couldn’t believe it for a moment! In the space of 30 seconds, the tide had turned. We were leading 2-1 but the goal not only put the Aussies at a par but the shock was so much that we lost our concentration and the match.

But coming back to the romance associated with the Champions Trophy, like I said, there’s nothing that compares to it. It involves only the top nations, and therefore, there isn’t a moment of respite. To win, or do well, a team has to perform consistently and not allow any breathing space to the opposition. And that’s what India will have to do. Get on top rightaway, and stay there.

Nizamuddin went to the US in December 2015 for a Master’s course in Computer Science, which he completed from Florida Institute of Technology in 2017. He completed his B.Tech in ECE from Jayaprakash Narayan College of Engineering, Mahbubnagar.

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