’’Hockey is our national game !’’. Sick and tired of hearing this comment ? Well, frankly speakin’, I am too. Well, cricket is the undisputed, most popular sport ever played in India. Its got something that binds the whole country together. People invariably tend to forget their sorrows, their misfortunes, thier differences whether they are economical, religious, political or of any other sort, when they are engrossed in watching a cricket match. We are all familiar with the rush thats caused outside shops which have TVs when theres a cricket match going on. Every man, old or young, rich or poor, good or evil, absolutely loves the moment when Sachin is out on the pitch, doin’ his thing. We are all out there, on the streets when we see our country winning. We are all overjoyed at the same time, doesn’t matter if the man of the day was Sachin or Zaheer or Harbhajan. See, the religious boundaries just don’t matter. And this is very important in a multi-ethnic country like India which is very prone to communalistic violence. Cricket is a common binding thread. The question then is, ’Why not make cricket the national game?’.
The answer to this question is really not very easy. I would absolutely love it if someone...anyone, ever came up with a satisfying enough answer to that. But when we consider all things above, the thing that we do forget is that Hockey is the game that started out as the most popular when India became independent. Right now, the immense popularity of cricket in our country could be somewhat associated with the fact that the greatest player laying the game belongs to our country. That man, obviously, is Sachin Tendulkar. Probably thats not the only reason, but it definitely is one. Comparing that to the circumstances in Hockey, we have had a certain bloke called Dhyanchand who, in his heydays was even more undisputed than Sachin as the best player in the world in his own sport. That was the time that Hockey enjoyed immense popularity in India. The wizard of Indian hockey is still remembered in all parts of the world where hockey is, or ever was played. The amazing skills that the man possessed were never equalled and that is the reason why he was a huge celebrity in India as well as the world.
That was the time when hockey enjoyed the place that cricket has today. that was the time that an average everyday kid would dream of being a hockey player rather than a cricketer. The major reason for popularity of any sport in a country, I guess is the international success of the country in that game. Thats the reason why soccer is the most popular sport in England, and not cricket. Also, soccer is not the most popular in USA because their international team is not the best (even though they are way way ahead than India in that respect). That time, India won a lot of Olympic medals and lots of other major gigs which made sure that a whole generation of Indians was hooked to the game. But as the standard kept falling and the successes kept withering, the popularity started dipping. We now had a situation where hockey came up at a distant number in a kid’s list of sports that he’d like to play. All said and done, the times are changing now.
Now, we again have the world’s best hockey player in Dhanraj Pillay in our team (though there may be people who’d dispute the fact). Even though he may not be a match for the legendary Dhyanchand, he still is easily the most skilled player on a hockey field in today’s era. He is an absolute wizard of his own caliber. Now, we again have someone to look up to on a hockey field. The times are changing as I said, and it seems as if the fish market of sorts that the Indian hockey team had become, is getting back into order. The coach seems to have a good rapport with his boys and we are winning tournaments and even those involving the best teams. I hope the changed times are here to stay. I hope hockey re-emerges as the great game that it once was and it regains the special place in our hearts as it once did in the hearts of our old grandparents and their ancestors (!!).
We all hope that Dhanraj can lead his young mates to re-conquer the position that hockey once held. The position, that made the statement a fact...’’Hockey is our national game.’’.