Winning mantra: Privatise in public interest

I saw speed, stamina and strength. Not just people running along with a ball and hitting it hard. I saw supreme athletes running their guts out for 75 minutes. I saw intent, desire and I felt the adrenaline. It was difficult not to get drunk by the spectacle, by what mind and body could achieve.

I thought hockey was played by 11 people against 11 others but I could swear there were more on the field. When they attacked, it seemed there were seven forwards, when they defended it seemed the goal-keeper had seven defenders for company. And their running off the ball, either in support of a forward or to thwart the opponent’s attack would have done sprinters proud.

And they weren’t all professionals either. Like footballers in Europe or basketballers in America or, dare I say, cricketers in India. In the Australian team, for example, there was a carpenter, a bartender, several salesmen and students. Fourteen of them had won an Olympic gold medal!

Yet, they get little or no sponsorship, indeed the person I spoke to mentioned $50,000 as the last sponsorship they got — for the women’s team! They weren’t moaning, they weren’t complaining, just putting up a spectacle and moving on. It’s time therefore to burst a few bubbles about affluence. It’s time to point a few fingers back towards ourselves.

I’m afraid India doesn’t belong in this league. Improvement can only begin with the acceptance of reality. We sit back in India and we talk about the return of the glory days of Indian hockey like we might about Ram returning to Ayodhya, or Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose emerging out of a helicopter in Kolkata. That is not going to happen.

India might compete sporadically, like in the matches against Pakistan and Australia last week, but we are not going to become a force in world hockey; not even if we play much better than we did in Kuala Lumpur.

Admittedly India were without Vikram Pillay, Viren Rasquinha and Gagan Ajit Singh, true India’s best player in the last 15 years, Dhanraj Pillay, won’t be around, accepted that some talented players were away in training for the junior World Cup, but numbers don’t lie. We have lost more matches than we have won in the last few years against Australia, against Pakistan, against Korea and, listen to this, against Malaysia.

We are not even talking of Holland or Germany yet.

Okay, so what next? If you see a storm coming your way, you strengthen your defences, your resolve and get down to work. Indian hockey, indeed Indian sport, needs to be divested.

If the government can sell IPCL and VSNL, put Indian Airlines and MTNL in competitive environments, allow Suzuki to take controlling interest in Maruti, allow private contractors to build and operate highways, why can’t they divest Indian sport?

I see nothing coming in the way of the Tata’s buying Indian hockey, Mahindras buying Indian football or indeed, Wipro buying Indian chess. They can run these sports, initially as a benevolent investment, in course of time as a profit centre. They can get tax exemptions for infrastructure built, tournaments won and medals gained. Indian sport needs the accountability and thrust of India’s private sector and that can only be achieved if it is handed over to the private sector.

I can foresee, maybe I dream but that is where all progress starts, vibrant domestic leagues, fine coaches, high quality television and the injection of pride and accountability. If we can go prospecting for oil, why can’t we prospect for hockey players at a laughable fraction of the cost? Wouldn’t the Tatas do what they can to see an Indian team ascend the victory podium at the World Cup?

The IHF or the AIFF cannot do that. Not today, not tomorrow. They just don’t have the tools.