Nakul Shivani/ New Delhi
The FIH Hockey World Cup gets underway today in Rourkela- Bhubaneswar today. The marquee event to find the champion of the world in men’s field hockey will be held from January 13 to 29. This is the fourth time India is hosting this prestigious championship.
Former India international Zafar Iqbal is hopeful of a creditable performance by the Indian team this time around, somethng that has eluded India since the 1975 win at Kuala Lampur.
“I have high hopes this time. India is very much capable of making it to playing on the final day,” he adds. But there is a word of caution too from the veteran striker.
“The top teams are playing here. India will have to play to their maximum potential, play their best consistently over a two-week period.”
He draws comparisons with the recently concluded FIFA world cup in Qatar where many top teams like Germany, Spain, Belgium and Portugal failed to reach the semi-finals. This was a tournament where the unpredictability of sports was on display in all its beauty. Saudi Arabia almost spoilt Messi’s party with a shock win in their first match, followed by Morocco’s dream-run.
“There is very little to choose between teams playing at the world cup. Each team is good enough to beat the other on any given day. India will have to perform exceptionally well,” he reiterates.
Zafar Iqbal who excelled as a forward in the late seventies and eighties recalls the time when India’s hegemony in world hockey was beginning to slide.
Zafar Iqbal during his playing days
He was one of the few new members of the Indian Team that went to Buenos Aires in 1978 to defend the title. After making his debut in a series against the Netherlands, Zafar Iqbal was entrusted with the task of playing a key role in the forward line. Remember Hockey was then played over two halves of 35-minutes each without any rolling substitutions.
After a disastrous 1976 Montreal Olympics campaign, India looked to better their performance in the 1978 world cup. “But how could we?” asks Zafar. “Astro turf had come in. Europeans were well planned. We had no planning. The only thing we had was good skill.”
But skill was not going to be enough in the changing world of Hockey. “We were told you are ‘Sher De Puttar’. But ‘Sher De Puttar’ also need to go into warfare with proper planning,” Zafar laughs.
“In 1978, we went in with a lot of confidence,” he says. According to him, the team went into the world cup with a lot of confidence. “We were a good mix of youth and experience. We were confident we will defend the title.”
But that was not to be. India lost to lowly-ranked Canada, West Germany followed by a draw with England. The curtains were drawn on India’s fate.
“We played well, but could not qualify for the semi-finals. It was a big blow,” says Zafar.
Zafar played even in the next world cup in 1982 which India hosted in Mumbai. By then the changes in the sport had begun to be well-entrenched. “The Europeans were adjusting faster than us. We just did not plan well enough. Even though the tournament was played on grass we failed to qualify for the semi-final. The loss to Australia after our goal was disallowed proved crucial,” recalls Zafar.
The 1975 Hockey World Cup winning team
World cup after World cup India came close, yet were not good enough to even make it to the top-four. Not since 1975, when we lifted the world cup, has India reached even the semi-final stage. The worst came when India played Pakistan for the wooden spoon in the 1986 world cup in London.
The FIH Hockey World Cup
In the current world cup, India is clubbed with Spain, England and Wales in Group D. The opening match of its campaign will be against Spain on 13th at 7 pm. India plays England on 15th and Wales on the 19th.
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India at the World Cup:
1971 - Bronze Medal
1973 – Silver Medal
1975 – Winner
1978 – 6th Position
1982 – 5th Position
1986 – 12th Position
1990 – 10th Position
1994 – 5th Position
1998 – 9th Position
2002 – 10th Position
2006 – 11th Position
2010 – 8th Position
2014 – 9th Position
2018 – Lost in the Quarter-Final
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