Bombay Gold Cup Review
by Dr. Deepak Seth
I cannot help but write about this tremendous opportunity that I was afforded.
Allowing this resident Californian to witness hockey at the local level, that translates into the fare dished out at the current edition of the Mumbai Gold Cup.
I was lucky enough to observe many of the matches & would religiously make the trek to the BHA ground to be amongst the few spectators watching the competition. AND HERE ARE SOME OF MY OBSERVATIONS. As is my habit I will start with the positives & then dwell on the innumerable negatives,
POSITIVES
1.I saw an incredible captain, in Dhananjay Mahadik, not only, because his was an all round brilliant performance worthy of a captain, the defensive stops & policing of important players, his superb PC conversions as drag flicker for his team, his outstanding passing, confirming without doubt that he is decidedly the best pure passer in India, (something that our country desperately needs), not only because he won the “player of the tournament award”, an affirmation by others of this writer’s impression., if there were an award for an assist leader, he would have won it handily.
MORE IMPORTANT THAN ALL THIS WAS HIS BARKING OUT INSTRUCTIONS TO HIS TEAM FROM ANYWHERE ON THE FIELD & HIS TEAM RESPONDING TO THEM.. It was fascinating to watch this performance from a true leader, who showed an incredible vision of the game & how his team should take advantage of the situation as it was evolving currently on the pitch. His continuous cajoling of his team to play faster, his calling of plays, his encouragement to younger colleagues to press, press & press, & as a result engineer a turnover of the ball for his team, WAS A TREAT TO WATCH, CULMINATING IN HIS BEING INSTRUMENTAL IN HIS TEAM WINNING THE CHAMPIONSHIP.
Yet it is indeed a crying shame that this youngster is not our national team captain, let aside not even being on our national team, Even no less a person than Dhanraj Pillay has acknowledged his exploits for his Army team of no star studded members, yet propelling it to win championships despite having competitors with veritable India teams in them, like Air India, Indian Oil, PSB & BPCL. He does video capture & analysis, does all the brain work, for his team, leads by example. He has been recognized by independent German writers as the most impressive player for his 1st Division playing German Club T G Frankenthal. He is currently the only Indian player playing in Germany, yet our own sports writers & selectors are blind to his extraordinary skills, both on & off the pitch.
2. the umpiring was top class, each & every one of them. Great control, good decisions very few challenges by players, some of which were entirely genuine, where an adequate explanation for the reason for the call or non call would have been sufficient.
3. My next image is of the Army Team, disciplined, fit, plays modern hockey, half backs going up in support of their forwards, fast, with of course a tremendous captain, I did not see any hard hits from their full backs, restarts were quick, modern & efficient, as was their PC Battery, I am beginning to see elements of modern hockey slowly creeping in to their culture, a direct benefit of the voracious appetite of their captain to imbibe knowledge from all over the world. IT IS FITTING THAT THEY WON THE CHAMPIONSHIP, THEY WERE THE BEST TEAM ON VIEW!
4. A little player by the name of Mangesh from Southern railway, all of 20 yrs old, who has incredible off the ball running skills, good ball control & dribbling skills, was a thorn in side of all the teams, including the above mentioned Army team, in fact he single handedly won 2 PCs for his team against them. He is completely tireless, a ball of energy & plays the lone striker role superbly. To me he is a dream player for a team who need to play counterattack, or take time off the clock particularly when leading. WHERE ARE THE SCOUTS & THE SELECTORS , THE VISIONARIES & HOW MANY SUCH TALENTED GEMS ARE WE MISSING FROM LITTLE TEAMS ALL AROUND THE COUNTRY. Is he on our < 21 team No Sir! He probably does not have the right connections, or no scouts have looked at him. Yet in my book he would be a very useful player, & his stamina is incredible.
5.the superlative trapping of the Indian Oil team, the fact that they come together 10 days before a tournament aka Australia. Hcky Team, yet continue to practice in their respective cities, yet put up a tremendous show.
6.The defensive grit of the PSB team reminding us of the teams of yester years from Punjab, like Punjab Police & BSF. It is again a tragedy that we cannot find any defensive minded players from this great state, though scouting for a speedy sardar would be crucial.
7.the play of old war horses Dhanraj Pillay & Sabu Varkey, an essential & much needed guidance for the youngsters,
8.PC striking rate of Gursewak Singh was fantastic, even against the Army. It astonishes me that India cannot give this guy a looksee, after all his proven, past, exploits for Western Railway.
9.THERE WAS NO DEARTH OF GOAL SCORING THROUGHOUT THE TOURNAMENT.
NEGATIVES
1.There were hardly any spectators in the stadium, which is a crying shame. It certainly did not do justice to the tremendous effort & skill that was on display, in all aspects of the conduct of the tournament, from the players to officials to announcers to ceremonies to the officiating. India hockey fans, for a game that is played even now with such tremendous skill, where thrills abound at a breathtaking pace, where a group of diehard players ,officials & count on your fingers, fans, brave innumerable odds, including the suffocating & senseless pressure of cricket mania, to plod on, to work & take part in the game they love & are not afraid to stand up for it , you are worthy of being disappointed.
2.Lack of old players, SCOUTS & SELECTORS, so how will you find the Mangeshs’ of Indian hockey, if you do not see any games.
3,No TV cameras, do not tell me DDR that even Coorg, Chota Nagpur & Punjab have no interest in hockey. I do not believe you.
4.Very little combo play from any team in fact I did not see any team put together a string of 3 consecutive passes amongst their team members. Every time there was a combo play it created danger for their opponent. IN fact Western Railway took the lead from such a play but lost their game 1-9.
5.Too many hard hits down the center of the pitch that were difficult to control.
6.Too little communication on the pitch except Mahadik & Mangesh.
7.Tactically most teams were poor & rolling substitutions were inadequately utilized, to give players a much needed rest.
8.Changing direction of play depending on the traffic clogging the field, trying to find the open man in order to create a numerical advantage, was deficient.
9.Too many touches on the ball allowing the opponents to recover, too many mistraps, except for Indian Oil.
In conclusion the wheels of Indian hockey towards modernity are turning but slowly, youngsters like Mahadik will be the catalysts & show tremendous promise, THERE IS NO DEARTH OF HOCKEY TALENT BUT I SUSPECT TEACHING IS AT A PREMIUM & SUPPORT OF PLAYERS FROM YESTER YEARS IS POOR
