Fir Dil Do Hockey ko

Chak De

I wonder what is our national game? Why are we lying to ourselves that it is Hockey (also Tiger is our national animal) when we simply don’t care enough for them.The Indian Hockey federation & the sponsors have to bring Sehwag & Piggy chops for promoting the Hockey world cup 2010 hosted by India.

There were days when India was the champion in this game & Dhyan Chand , Roop Singh & others won Olympic Gold medals for us.At that time everybody wanted to emulate those great players. Ever since my generation the only sport which we care for  is CRICKET. Lots of current batch of young players have Sachin as their Role Model.

India has not been a world champion in either cricket or hockey after 1983 ( except for T20 world cup) but still the fan following for cricket has increased by leaps & bounds & that of hockey has decreased in the same proportion.  It might be lack of stars in Hockey ( Dhanraj pillai is the only name that comes to mind) or the poor management by officials ( Did i say MR. MS Gill??)

Now India is almost out of the Hockey WC after a great start. The ban on shivendra singh was a  major setback. But losing by 3 goals twice shows the lack of consistency & flair in our game.I hope the permutations & combination work in such a way that India reaches semis, but it is too far-fetched.

We have to change our mindset, that is to admire our talent only if it  gets popular worldwide. If you have won an Oscar you are special otherwise not!! We have to give our hearts to the game & back our players even if we are not doing well.In the latest Winter Olympics held in Canada the hosts fetched 16 Gold Medals & created history.For that matter also take the example of China which made many achievements during the successful hosting of the 2008 Summer Olympics.Don’t just say/see Chak De, mean it.

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