India’s hockey team needs rebooting, better direction
In the strange world of Indian men’s hockey, there is a place only for two extreme emotions: delight or disappointment. If Tokyo saw them being delighted, they were disappointed in Bhubaneswar at the FIH World Cup. While a few of their recent global defeats invited undeserved scorn—since 2016, they have only lost to finalists or winners at all FIH tournaments—this loss against the Black Sticks ought to sting. It should also invite scrutiny of the checks and balances that Hockey India has in place. The best hockey teams these days do not have players locked in training camps for more than 200 days.
Teams like Belgium and Netherlands have players participating in the vibrant club structure prevalent in both countries. There can be no excuse for the wealthiest hockey body to not have a club scene in India and disallow players to play in Europe, where the best play for three to four months every season. When New Zealand, whose funding programme is minuscule compared to India’s, can fund a four-team franchise model to expose their players to compete abroad, you know Hockey India has to do better.
The bronze at the Tokyo Olympics was supposed to lift the millstone of underperformance around the players’ necks. That didn’t happen. If anything, what they served up at this World Cup was a very cold dish that wasn’t suitable. In the end, Tokyo has proved to be the exception to the rule of India’s continuing status as a middling team that fails to marry expectation with reality. If the former is the stratosphere, the latter is the ground. They seldom played as a top-six team at the World Cup and did not heed lessons given to them, especially when Wales, whose players pay to play, showed it was possible to get at them. It was also galling to hear the coach, Graham Reid, admit that the team hasn’t had a mental trainer.
There is no point in playing in front of stadia worth crores of rupees if the players don’t have access to basic modern demands, like a psychologist who can help them understand themselves better. It’s very human to feel the pressure, so why haven’t the officials sanctioned one yet? Maybe they will give them one before the Asian Games, India’s next big assignment this year. Considering it’s an Olympic qualifier, this group of players will need to put up a better performance.