The early 1970s was hard on hockey lovers in India. In an era when anything less than an Olympic hockey gold was considered a failure, only bronze medals had come India’s way after Tokyo 1964. Even in World Cups, a top podium spot was elusive.
In Barcelona 1971, when the first World Cup was hosted, India finished third while Pakistan lifted the trophy. Amsterdam 1973 was heartbreak central. India led 2-0 against Netherlands in the final before agonisingly going down on penalty strokes. India missed a penalty stroke during ‘sudden death.’ A conversion would have resulted in an instant triumph. But it was not to be.
Nonetheless, 1975 brimmed with expectation.
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The Emergency was still a few months away. In captain Ajit Pal Singh, Ashok Kumar, Govinda, V Phillips, Surjit Singh and Michael Kindo, India had a first-rate unit. But were they better than Pakistan who had Akhtar Rasool, Samiullah, Islauddin and Saleem Sherwani in their ranks? That was the tantalising question.
India started well, but not perfectly. Pakistan did. Both topped their groups. But unlike the neighbours, India suffered a loss. Argentina, the hockey equivalent to New Zealand in cricket, upset India 2-1. But the semifinal turned out to be a bigger test.
Backed by a vociferous home crowd, Malaysia played sterling hockey and led India 2-1. Penalty corners were plentiful but regular taker, Surjit Singh, was having an off-day. In desperation, the reliable Kindo was substituted for a rookie 21-year-old defender from Bhopal.
With just four minutes left for the hooter, India earned a penalty corner. What happened next is a moment engraved in every hockey lover’s memory. Aslam Sher Khan kissed the tabeez (amulet) given to him by his mother; his strike sending the match into extra-time. Harcharan Singh’s goal earned India a place in the final again.
In the other semis, Pakistan looked unstoppable routing Germany 5-1.
Those were radio days. Everyone experienced sports through the lens of the spoken word and imagination. Jasdev Singh, the doyen of Hindi sports commentary, was behind the mike. A few senior students brought transistor radios to school. Some of them cut classes to listen to the commentary. The noise they made told us India won the World Cup. Fittingly, hockey wizard Dhyanchand’s son, Ashok Kumar, scored the decider in a 2-1 win.
In my mind’s archive, I always pictured Kumar dodging past the Pakistan defence and scoring the match-winner. Truth is, as I realized after watching the final on YouTube some years ago, it came off a goalmouth melee.
Watching the match played on grass in Kuala Lumpur, I also realized how dramatically hockey has changed due to the introduction of astro-turf in the 1976 Montreal Olympic. I vividly remember the celebrations. Crackers were burst, but it wasn’t anything like nowadays.
When hockey was all about national pride and emotional investment
Nobody had that kind of money then. Yet a sense of pure joy was evident everywhere: schools, paan shops, streets, bus stops. It was the only point of conversation. With Indo-Pak cricket in hiatus, hockey was the game where national pride and collective emotions were invested. On that ‘Ides of March’ every hockey player also became a household name that sports lovers of a certain vintage can still reel off by memory.
In the weeks that followed, popular magazines such as ‘The Illustrated Weekly of India’ and ‘Dharmyug’ carried cover stories of the triumph. Players received awards in various forms. For instance, the Punjab government gave them Rs 5,000 each. The UP government gave each member a Vijay scooter. Amounts and awards that tell you something about the times.
Sadly, India never stood on the hockey World Cup podium thereafter. The 1980 Moscow Olympics gold too came against a vastly truncated field. Caught napping by astro-turf, it would be decades before the nation would become a force in hockey again. Now hope floats with two consecutive Olympic bronze medals won in Tokyo 2020 and Paris 2024. But the nation awaits the golden glow.
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