Wizard of hockey

The last of the great links with the hoary past of Indian hockey has snapped with the passing of Balbir Singh Sr. The wizard of a centre forward who wove magical patterns through impeccable ball control carried the Indian hockey team to the heights of three successive victories in post-war Olympic Games — London (1948), Helsinki (1952) and Melbourne (1956). Skills like stick work, dribbling, short passes and strong drives and adept flicks at goal from close range were the hallmarks of hockey on grass in the golden era with Balbir Singh Sr its preeminent player. Honours bestowed on him as in being the first sportsperson to receive a Padma award and being declared a living legend in the 2012 Olympics were thoroughly deserved. Curiously, he suffered the vagaries of selection too as in being overlooked by the very team for which he had made an impressive debut in 1948 with a stunning six-goal spree including a hat-trick against Argentina. He was to appear again only in the final in which he netted twice as India beat Great Britain He became a legend after scoring five of India’s six goals in the Helsinki final against the Netherlands. The soft-spoken athlete went on to become a successful coach who was known for his eagerness to pass on his knowledge of the game and its skills to succeeding generations of players. It was under his guidance that India won the 1975 World Cup before sliding in the game that was to change considerably with the advent of Astro turf. A more physical and robust style of play of powerful runs, long passes and close marking meant hockey changed even as the competition caught up with the Asians who could no longer dominate the game as they did in halcyon days. Indian hockey may never attain the heights as in Balbir Sr’s time, which is all the more reason why we will cherish him as an athlete. There cannot be players like them anymore because hockey itself has changed.