Nagpur: Former Olympian Ashok Kumar Dhyanchand, best known for scoring the winning goal in the 1975 hockey World Cup final, was optimistic of India’s podium finish in Belgium and the Netherlands on Aug 30.Ashok Kumar was in Nagpur to distribute the annual Bankers Sports Council awards on Friday. When asked about India’s chances of winning a second World Cup gold, he said, “Before I speak about India’s chances, the initial thing that comes to my mind is about the first World Cup in 1971, where we won bronze against our target of winning a gold medal. In 1973, we missed the title again despite being 2-0 ahead against Holland in the final. In the extra time, we missed a golden opportunity to win the final and then we missed the penalty stroke, and this setback was painful for all of us.”Two years later in Malaysia, India defeated Pakistan 2-1 to win the 1975 World Cup, where Ashok Kumar scored the match-winner in the 51st minute.He said, “Our final against Pakistan was the best and last example of hockey of that era. Both the teams played top-quality hockey of that time. Then the rules changed, grass became turf and Indian players took time to settle on the artificial surface. In the absence of turf in India, our first camp at Patiala was held on a grass surface spread with cow dung, before we went to play the Montreal Olympics.”India and Argentina played the first match of the Montreal Olympics on artificial turf on July 18, 1976. The shift to synthetic grass severely impacted the traditional playing styles of India and Pakistan. “The turf was imposed on us and Indian hockey was down by four years, Pakistan is still struggling,” he said.Ashok Kumar saw similarities between the 1975 Indian hockey team and the current national contingent, 51 years after the 1975 side’s achievement. He said, “Yesterday, one of my students, whom I taught a little hockey during my coaching period, called me and said, ‘Sir, I am going for the World Cup, tell me something that is beneficial for me and my team.’ Looking at the way he took my suggestion is nothing but an emotion, a feeling that this team wants to win. This team wants to perform that duty which the Indian team of 1975 did, as all the players are supporting each other and are desperate to make their mark. I won’t say we will surely win gold, but we are on the right track to bring the World Cup back sooner and this time we will surely register a podium finish.”When asked about the role of foreign coaches, he said, “When the turf was imposed on us at that time, we needed international coaches. I do not understand why we are spending heavily on foreign coaches. We should spend that amount on preparing turf in tribal areas. Today we have Sardar Singh, Raghunath and many old players who can build a better team. We should hand over some responsibility to them. Hockey India should select 15, 20 players and hand over to the veterans by giving facilities and make them accountable to prepare a medal-winning team.”
