Recalling India’s heroic 1975 World Cup triumph
CHANDIGARH: The hockey World Cup was Pakistan’s brainchild and but for its strained relations with India, Lahore would have staged the inaugural edition in 1971. The Pakistan Hockey Federation floated the idea in 1969, and the world body, FIH, accepted it. The trophy, designed by Bashir Moojid, was commissioned by the Pakistan Army.
India announced its squad with Col Balbir Singh as captain and even played an exhibition match against Northern Railways at a jam-packed Jammu stadium. By then tension between India and Pakistan was rising over Bangladesh’s declaration of independence. Opposition leader Zulfikar Ali Bhutto — his Pakistan People’s Party had lost the general elections in December 1970 —threatened his supporters would set the hockey field on fire if the Indian hockey team played in Pakistan. This lead to a postponement and the venue was shifted to Barcelona.
For the Barcelona World Cup, India announced a fresh team. Ajit Pal Singh was named skipper of a comparatively young team. After a bronze medal finish in the 1968 Mexico Olympics, which was then considered a poor performance, many seniors were axed.
“After Mexico, there were a lot of changes in the squad. Many players who were part of the 1971 World Cup had made their international debut only in the previous two years, so it was a young team. Even for me as captain, it was the first major tournament,” says Ajit Pal. “We won bronze, but in those times making it to the final of a tournament was the minimum expected, so the team was not satisfied.”
FULL SET OF MEDALS
Ajit Pal, Ashok Kumar, Brigadier Harcharan Singh and Michael Kindo are the only players in the world to win all three World Cup medals. They won bronze in the inaugural edition, it was silver in 1973, and finally in 1975 India became champions.
“We had a great legacy to look upon and to come close to that performance was not only a challenge for us, but also a great motivation.that push played an important role in reaching the final in both 1973 and 1975,” says Ashok Kumar, who scored the winning goal in India’s historic 1975 triumph. “Those days we had a very strong domestic structure. For each position there were equally talented eight to 10 players and everyone was eagerly waiting to grab an opportunity to don the national jersey. This was the reason behind India’s success in the global arena those days,” says Brig Harcharan Singh.
The 1973 squad also had the potential to lift the title, feel stalwarts. India led 2-0 but eventually lost the final on penalty strokes to Netherlands. Even those who featured in all three editions rate the 1973 squad the fittest.
“If we keep aside win and loss and ignore the final outcome, then the 1973 team was the strongest. Somehow it was not our day. We were leading 2-0 in the final and rain spoilt everything. What we did in 1975 was a replica of 1973,” says Ashok Kumar. Adds Brig Harcharan Singh: “Sardar Jagmohan Singh, who was athletics coach in Patiala, took our fitness camp and because of his training regimen we can say the 1973 side was the fittest in that era.”
Considering the current level and home advantage, India can spring a surprise, feels Ajit Pal.
“It’s been 43 years --- we’ve not been on the podium. We are ranked fifth in the world and Bhubaneswar loves hockey, so it will further help India to perform better. I hope the team cashes in,” says Brig Harcharan Singh.