Politics within IHF (INDIAN HOCKEY FEDERATION) is spoilng this game. India where this game originated does not stand in the first 5 nations of the hockey playing countries.
Leave alone the world ranking, their quality of play is also below the international level.
It is not that India does not have good players but it’s the politics of IHF which is spoiling the game in India.
I can tell you one incident, when India won the hockey gold medal in the Asian Games, people felt that now Indian hockey has improved and they can win matches in the big international arena, but can you belive that IHF removed 7 members and the coach of the gold medal winning squad? The reason for their removal was given as ’’they were resting’’. New and inexperienced guys were sent on European tour and they lost badly.
Later because of the pressures from fans and other officials they had to call back some of the players but left out a couple of the good players.
Indian hockey is lacking behind because IHF does not provide the basic necessities to the players and they constantly fiddle with players and the coaches, which is why India is behind in all aspects of the game compared to other hockey playing nations.
Hockey and all the games should be free from politics, only then I think, India will prosper in the world of sports.