October 22, 2017, the ‘Men in Blue’ raised the toast once again, the cup won, another benchmark added to the glorious history. The difference being, it was all done by the ‘Men in Blue with Sticks’ and not the ‘Men in Blue with Bats’. The Indian Men’s hockey team was declared as the winner of the 2017 Men’s Hockey Asia Cup and have qualified for the 2018 World Cup in India.
Time and again question is raised “If cricket is diminishing other sports in India?”, as claimed rather accused by many notable. For some Cricket is overpowering every other sport, not allowing them to pave their way and for others, it is sort of a suicidal scenario for the different sports. The blame-game has been continuing for a long time and yet we see no full stop to it, So, why not once in a while put a semi-colon and widen the perspective.
Hockey has been in the news recently, firstly when the Union Ministry declined Hockey’s acceptance as National Game of India and regarded it merely as a matter of general parlance and then when the team won Asia Cup. India has always brought forth the finest hockey players in the world, be it the then Major Dhyanchand or today’s Manpreet Singh. As a matter of fact, India is the most successful team ever in Olympics, having won eight Olympics gold medals till date. Despite all these achievements, the state of the sport and that of the sportsperson is condemnable.
In a state like this, comparisons become more prone. It is often compared with the highly celebrated and much talked about sport- Cricket. For those who defend Cricket and the committee, saying that the players there perform and bring forth the results. To those hard with people, Where have these hockey players performed less? Major Dhyanchand, certainly the best, probably that’s why the nation has a Lifetime Sports Achievement Award in his name, was a hockey player. Isn’t this ironic that the award is on his name yet his sport is demeaned? The idea of this is not to criticise Cricket or to start with the blame-game but that, that in situations like these where the hockey players are hardly recognized, scarcely provided with amenities worth International Standards and given any monetary help, they are outperforming, mesmerizing everyone; Aren’t they entitled to better status, living and sports?
As per a general perception, if 50% of all that is given to cricketers is given to the BHARAT ARMY, it’ll help them bring more laurels to the country, such is the potential of INDIAN HOCKEY. A little spent on them would file a humongous return in terms of reputation and worth. India has already marked its position in Cricket and therefore it becomes even more necessary to uplift the areas which are downtrodden, not that the top-notch should be ignored. Also, an investment not just monetary but the support of the fellow countrymen is what ‘The Stick’ craves for. Maybe that’s why ‘The Stick’ calls for the limelight of ‘The Bat’. Give it that and the night sky full of stars is what will come back to India.
