Field Hockey, or simply referred to as Hockey, is being assumed as the National Game of India for a long time although a recent RTI has revealed that India officially has no national game. It is a game played between 2 teams, each consisting of 11 players, including a goalie. According to the most recent rules, a game is divided into 4 quarters of 15 minutes each, totalling to an hour of play. Rules are being constantly monitored, and if required, modified by Federation of International Hockey (FIH), the governing body for international hockey, to maintain and improve the beauty of the game.
The Golden Era of Indian Hockey
Hockey was introduced in India in 1885 and Indian Hockey made its Olympic debut in 1928. It was a proud moment for every Indian, not only because they won the Gold Medal in their debut, but also because, they achieved it without conceding a single goal. They continued to win gold medal in all Olympics till 1956. This period is regarded as the Golden Era of Indian Hockey. It is in this period, that the greatest hockey players of all time like Dhyan Chand, the Wizard of Hockey, were active in the game. Overall, Indian Hockey team is the most successful hockey team in Olympic history with 8 gold, 1 silver and 2 bronze.
Recent performance
After the Golden Era, even though India didn’t win gold in all the Olympic Games, they continued to be medallists till 1980, with an exception of 1976. After that, to the date, no Olympic medal has been won by the Indian Hockey team. Even in the case of World Cups, the last time India become included in the first 4 places is in 1975. There even came an instance where Indian Hockey team didn’t even qualify for the Olympics (2008).
Personal Observations
After inquiring about the game play of the successful Indian teams to the people who have watched it, and carefully comparing it with the game play of the current team, I have made some personal observations. Successful Indian teams basically relied on their skills, ball control and flexibility of their body to beat the opponents in this fast-paced game. At that time, foreign teams used their sprint speed and ability to hit the ball hard, to try to beat Indian team, but who won is etched in golden words in the history. Nowadays, when I watch the Indian team play, I cannot see the skills and ball control in their play. I also observe that they do not put to use, their body flexibility. All they do is, try to move fast with the ball, but opponents always, outrun them.
Deeper Analysis
During the Golden Era, players knew what they had in their hands and what they didn’t. They realised that they won’t be able to outrun their opponents because of the different body structures. Instead they found out that they had the flexibility which their opponents didn’t have. When they combined it with the skills and ball control they achieved with rigorous practice, they were very successful. But the later players tried to achieve what they didn’t have, in my opinion what they virtually won’t have, the ability to outrun the foreigners. Even though it was a good try, the problem is that, in the process, they left behind their strengths. In short, they lost everything trying to get everything.
Conclusion
At the point where everything was going in their favour, there was no need for Indian Hockey team to try to make any changes. This study has highlighted an important principle that, never try to make a change if everything goes fine.
