Q/What made Bhopal the hockey nursery of India?
A/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?
A/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 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/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.
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.
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