What a day it was. From the past few months it has been a long wait for me. If not desperately, I was eagerly waiting for the Hero Honda Hockey World Cup 2010 to commence. As it approached near I wondered, should I go to Delhi or not? When a close friend alerted me, “This happened in 1982. You never know when it’s gonna come next.” Then finally it was decided; clubbed with a family visit will be an evening at the Dhyan Chand National Stadium in Delhi – to watch the 3 matches of the day, last being Ind v Eng.
Few days before the event, a lot of negative news kept pouring in continuously. I wondered what the future of this game in this country is. Fight for power, captaincy controversy, media block out, no publicity by the officials, former players struggling with very basic things. You name it and it has it. But somewhere deep in my heart, I knew 2 things: If the team plays well, these things will come down. I have faith in Brasa.
When Ind beat Pak in the opener, it was the best kick start any Hockey fan could have asked for. It was not just a victory; the positive thinkers remarked it as a changed Indian Hockey team – less of solo runs, man to man marking in the defense, rolling substitutes, midfield and attack line being more cohesive. There was hope.
The match those followed were against Australia and Spain. India lost both matches 5-2. Those were difficult evenings; I felt I couldn’t share my feelings with anyone. I have not even a single friend who follows Hockey like the way I do. A lot of Hockey fraternity people, who I know closely, are not the ones I would have shared these feelings; primarily because I am a commoner and not a Hockey professional.
With India out of the Semi Final chase, as Brasa had cautioned 2 months back, I landed at the above mentioned stadium. For me, the first time, I was witnessing an international match. A beautifully laid out stadium, it felt magical at the first look. I relished my decision.
First match was Aus v Spain: a class of its own. Continuous (shoulder to shoulder) marking of all the forward line players, no needless dribble, no dodge and beating, just move the ball, if not right then left, keep the opponents on the move and ‘desperate’ to get the ball. Of the limited knowledge I have, it was Hockey at its best. At one time, someone told me there are a lot of things that happen on turf. On TV you get to see the play around the ball. I got to know what he meant. I just wondered when our country will play a game like this. Although Aus won 2-0 but Spain made them run for their win.
Second match was SA v Pak, Pak being the clear favourites. An elderly gentleman around remarked, “Previous match was Class A match, this one is Class B and the next one will be a mixed class match.” The crowd precisely knew what to expect from teams like Pak and India. The marked difference in quality of the first and this match was evident – Pak players, as expected, don’t look up where there mates are, they believe in skills and solo runs. It works but less often than it used to.
An expert around me had seen SA’s game in the tournament and had bet with someone that SA will win against Pak. Pak’s game reminds me very much of how India plays. At one time, I shouted, “Abbasi, ball paas kar de.” Someone was witty enough to respond, “arey bhaiyya, tell him something that is possible.” That summed up the knowledge of the crowd.
The impossible was about to come true. SA took over the game 4-1 and Pak saved their face in the last 2 minutes, to finish it 4-3.
Now comes the match, we have been waiting for: ind v Eng. The game started and Indians were quite disciplined in first half. Good man to man marking, very little of solo runs, awesome coverage of the midfield but there were moments where the crowd was shouting, ‘Change the flank’, but Indians play on instincts; and that says go where there (read it, more opponents) is chance of becoming a hero.
There are 2 important things which we lack and will come with time: perseverance and ability to take off pressure. One instance of sloppy defence and England whacked one in. The defence is so loaded with attacks with little support from the forward line that they burn out after a while and are prone to make mistakes. (read it, concede goals). Although Indians were marking all 3/4 forward line players when ball was with England, India were being treated at par.However, there was something wrong. When the ball was with India in the mid-field, 3 forward line players were always in the D, very neatly marked. A guy shouted, ‘arey, come outside and get the ball instead of just waiting in the D.” – something I felt, that a common man can see, Brasa must have seen that as well.
In the 2nd half, as England went up by 3-0 the crowd was desperate, “arey 1 tou maar dou. Thousands are here to support you.”
The thing that made me sad was, although a lot of players have brought in a lot of discipline to the team, players from up north still don’t release the ball after a single touch (they take 4 to 5 touches and give time to opponents to recover), sometimes they don’t know how to trap the ball and they don’t care about the most basic thing: Look up when you move forward.
But as the day closed with India posing a very decent challenge to the Englishmen by losing 2-3, I realized how difficult it would be for Brasa. It not about Hockey, it’s about the mindset and instinct, i.e. to play as a team than as an individual. Few days back, Taeke Taekema said, “I have no personal goals for this WC. Had there been personal goal s I would have played Tennis, not Hockey.” Simple, isn’t it?
As I left the stadium, I was content person; to get to watch 3 matches of WC being with people who know Hockey well, being with who just came to watch without much knowledge, being with people who offer unconditional support to their team, people who cheer even in the dying moments; something which the Indians players also acknowledge by doing a round after the match. The playing of national anthem with 17k people standing and singing in unison is something that I have never done in my life. It’s was surely an emotional moment that made my throat heavy.
A Hockey professional next to me said, “You know how England is playing and how much India can pull but somewhere deep in your heart you wish, what If India pulls out a win.” His voice sunk and so did mine. I am fairly sure that every Indian supporter, who landed up at Dhyan Chand Hockey Stadium on 6th Mar ’10, must have felt the same.
