Before our success in cricket, there was one sport we dominated with no equal. Yes, we are talking of hockey. Eight Olympic gold medals prove that we were unstoppable.
Six golds were won on the trot from 1928 to 1956. We won 2 more in 1964 and 1980. But now the state is such that we have to qualify for tournaments like the World Cup because our standard has fallen. But what caused it? When did the dip start.
Sportskeeda
Well, the reason can be attributed to AstroTurf. Yes, the new playing surface which was introduced in the mid 1970s. The International Hockey Federation (FIH) altered the rules to make synthetic AstroTurf the mandatory playing surface for international hockey tournaments.
The 1976 Olympics in Montreal was the first Games in which AstroTurf was used in hockey. For the first time since we began playing hockey in the 1928 Games in Amsterdam, India did not win even bronze.
India has few AstroTurf grounds. They are expensive to lay and difficult to play on. While grass, on which hockey had been played internationally for nearly a century, allowed skilled Indian and Pakistani players to trap the ball, dribble and pass, AstroTurf suits the physicality of European and Australian hockey players based on raw power rather than technical skill.
Since most of our players grew up playing on grass, it was a difficult adjustment to make, and that ultimately led to the decline of the sport for us. The popularity of cricket began to gain momentum and hockey slowly went into the backseat.
Of course this is not an excuse. No, not once is it the only reason for our lack of success. But it certainly was a contributing factor. But no point crying over spilled milk. Now it's time we regained our lost glory and once again went to the top of the hockey ladder.
