Q. What made Bhopal the hockey nursery of India?
Before independence, the Indian hockey team was the best in the world; within India, Bhopal was beating all other teams. Three things helped Bhopal hockey: natural talent, royal patronage, and the immense support of the local people. There was a craze for hockey here similar to that for football in West Bengal.
Q. What are the reasons for Bhopal hockey’s downfall?
Intense politicking and factionalism in the Bhopal Hockey Association is the single biggest reason. Groups among associations are not a big thing, but they should have been united for the cause of the game. But in Bhopal, factionalism was at the level where they would rather kill hockey than let the other group succeed. The politics got most intense in the 1980s and hockey managers themselves destroyed the team and the game. Talented youngsters were left demotivated and slowly they started avoiding hockey.
Q. There have been talks of bias against Bhopal players at the national level.
A/Yes. Prima facie there was a communal bias and favouritism towards certain players. Muslims were either not selected in the Indian team or were benched like the great Inam ur Rehman at the 1968 Olympics. I sat for the longest time on the sidelines. In the selection camps, the Muslim players would be psychologically discouraged by the coaches with such behaviour and that would make players uncomfortable. I have seen many Muslim players leave camps because of discriminatory behaviour. At the India team selection level, coaches and management would favour some players. This was not communal, but personal bias and favouritism.
Q. You were the first Muslim to play against Pakistan?
We were up for finals with Pakistan in the 1974 Tehran Asian Games. I was being played in the tournament because Michael Kindo (who was always favoured over me earlier) had been injured at the selection camp. But I was excluded from the finals and I got to know that it was because never before a Muslim had been played against Pakistan. But the top officials of the Indian contingent intervened, manager Leslie Claudius supported me, and I finally played in the game. We drew the first game with Pakistan and my performance as a defender was much appreciated with headlines like ‘Aslam saves India against Pakistan’. We, however, lost the replay of the final by 2-0. But my performance busted the myth and opened up the team further for Muslim players, and later, Zafar Iqbal even captained the team. Also, I captained the Indian team for the Quaid-e-Azam trophy in Pakistan in 1976.
Q. You were instrumental in getting India its only World Cup in 1975?
Even during this tournament, I was relegated to the sidelines despite my good performance throughout the year. This was because I had offended the team management by not attending the first selection camp due to my final graduation exams. However, when we started losing to host Malaysia in the semi-finals, a desperate manager Balbir Singh asked me to go in ‘Aslam ab tu hi ja, tera khuda hi bacha sakta hai ab Bharat ko’ (Aslam, you have to go in and only your God can save India) and I replaced Michael Kindo in the field with just seven minutes to go in the game. I got the penalty corner with two minutes left in the game. My God was with me and I scored the equalizer. We went on to beat Malaysia 3-2 in extra time with Harcharan Singh scoring the winning goal. Our unexpected win unnerved Pakistan to the extent that we won the finals against them 2-1. This was the only time India won the World Cup and it got me immense love from across India.
Q. Are Bhopal players not suitable physically for the current form of hockey?
A/Bhopal hockey was always ‘hockey of the brain’. We were masters in grass hockey because of our expertise in dribbling and stick work, and our mindset and attitude. Bhopalis were ‘thinking’ players. Artificial turf and change in rules like the doing away with the offside rule changed the game. It became a power game and speed, endurance and fitness became the new mantras. To achieve this, daily practice of at least six hours and a very good diet are needed. The Bhopal players normally came from economically backward families. How can they build stamina just by drinking water? Also, they could not find the facility and time for the required practice and lacked access to grounds and kits.
Q. But the government has set up hockey academies and is promoting hockey.
A/The government has indeed developed infrastructure, but they have made a big blunder. They did not employ local coaches, a decision I could never understand, especially as my father (Olympian Ahmed Sher Khan) had revived hockey post-independence. He understood Bhopal hockey, something an outsider cannot do. (It was only recently that Olympian Sameer Dad was appointed coach of MP State Men's Hockey Academy)
Also, government authorities never discussed or sought guidance from any local people. Bhopal boys who went to the academy could not at first make a mark on the artificial turf. So, perhaps to hide their failure as an academy, they opened it to outside players. They should come out of this lie that Madhya Pradesh players are improving [at the academies]. They are just putting the stamp of Madhya Pradesh academy on outside players and taking credit for their performance.
Q. Do you see a chance to revive Bhopal hockey? How can we achieve that?
There is still a chance to revive hockey and there are also funds available. If the state sports and youth welfare department leaves aside its prejudice and starts supporting the local hockey association for uplifting players with infrastructure and funds, then not only Bhopal players, but also more players from across Madhya Pradesh gain a lot. They should come out of this deception that MP hockey and players are improving (at the academies). They are just putting the stamp of MP Academy on outside players and taking credit for their performance. Unless they invest in local coaches and supporting staff and focus on Bhopal or MP players, hockey cannot improve at the local level.