Today, whole of India, is basking in the magnificent achievements of Women’s and Men’s Cricket Teams. They have proven they are world class. Champions of all formats of Cricket. It’s said that Cricket is a game of uncertainties but India has demonstrated when on field, victory is their’s beyond any doubts. No uncertainties here! Ordinarily, sports lovers, diehard fans, are not fickle, they stick with their beloveds, through thick and thin. Somehow, most surprisingly, sporting Indians, somewhere down the line, have forsaken their love. Some enthusiasts and commentators do lament the decline of other Indian team sports. The worst part is that India used to excel in these sports. Many of the current generation, may be surprised to note that India participated in Soccer during 1948 Olympics. It reached the Semi Finals in 1956. And then, 1960 was the last year of its participation. Far cry from where India stands today in Soccer world ranking. Take the instance of another team sport – Field Hockey. In 1928, the team won its first Olympic Gold medal and until 1960, Indian men’s team remained unbeaten at Olympics, winning six gold medals in a row. It’s said, that Hitler was so impressed by Dhayan Chand’s performance in Berlin Olympics in 1936, he offered him a job in the German Army. India is celebrating a Century of Hockey this year. However Indian Filed Hockey’s halcyon days seem to be over. There are several reasons for the nosedive of these team sports in India. The rise and rise of India Cricket in winning matches and popularity is primarily due to India Team’s performance. There is a huge flow of funds into cricket, hitherto unseen, which also paved the way for a player pipeline. All formats of competitive Cricket, ensure extraordinary earnings for players. With money has come professionalism and excellent administrative setups. Other Team Sports in comparison have taken a back seat in India. Diehard, envious old faithful’s, may claim that Cricket is like a Banyan Tree which allows nothing to grow underneath, but it’s not quite correct. Actually, nothing succeeds like success. And the Cricket mandarins have got the formula just right for the elixir. Much is said about Marx’s claim that Religion is the opiate of masses but in India its undoubtedly Cricket!
If one was to retrace some of the reasons for the jaded performance of Indian teams in Soccer and Hockey; blame may be placed on changes in rules of the games. In India, during heydays, soccer players mostly played barefoot, which got totally barred later. In earlier era, most had a loathing for playing in football boots. This and the transformation of style from dependence on mere skills, to power, stamina and ‘Total Football’, knocked the base out of Indian soccer. Field Hockey saw even greater changes in rules and playing formats. Timings, surfaces like the Astro Turf, less dependence on subtle individual skills of players more brawn, penalty corners being awarded copiously, et al, saw a tumble from the high pole position that India occupied. With the lackluster performances of Indian teams, these games suffered the inevitable shift in fortunes. Absence of spectators backing and money flow did the rest. In sports loyalty cannot be bought it has to be earned. It’s a place where winners take all. And who doesn’t love a winner? Today, only a miniscule percentage pays heed to the spirit of a game. Contemporary sports lovers have given a pass over and quiet burial to these Indian pastimes. Glory days are over for these team sports. Media has also played a huge role. With globalization courtesy the media came exposure to world class standards. Indian participants seem to hang out as sore thumbs. Exceptions like Sunil Chhetri, the fourth largest International Goal Scorer in Soccer, notwithstanding! Television has also brought the best of these sports right into our living rooms. There is actually no need to brave the dust, noise and jostling in stadiums, one can watch a match with much greater precision standards, sitting in the comfort of own living rooms or sports bars. In fact, internet and hand held devices now provide even greater access. Yet, the romance and thrill of following a tournament and watching matches on field, is the ultimate experience, for maybe a minority of sports enthusiasts.
The Indian Premier League (IPL) is arguablythe richest sports league in the world, with a totalbusiness valuation of $18.5 billion in 2025. This valuation includes the standalone brand value of $3.9 billion. It shows how just one tournament can take a particular sport (Cricket in this case) to dizzying heights. Tournaments are great contributors to popularity, development of professional players, media business and if ‘played’ rightly, humongous profits. NFL, NBA, English Premier League, La Liga Santander, Bundesliga all some of the richest Sports Leagues in the world. So we see that tournaments have an overall positive fall out for most sports. India as a nation has not been able to capitulate on the potential of sports tournaments barring IPL. Look at how Qatar managed to host the FIFA World Cup and the positive impact it had on its economy& infrastructure.
While not disparaging current efforts of Sports Federations and Sponsors of Soccer & Field Hockey, one can only look back longingly on two World famous tournaments, being held in India since long. For Soccer, the Durand Cup was first held in 1888 in Annadale, Shimla. It’s the oldest existing club football tournament in Asia and the fifth oldest national football competition in the world. The Durand Football Tournament was started by Henry Mortimer Durand in 1888. Sir Henry was recuperating from illness in Shimla, recognizing the value of sport as a means to maintain health, he decided to present a prize to encourage sporting competition in India. It was initially for military teams; the British Armed Forces, the Indian Army and other armed units. The first matches were played in Dagshai, near Shimla. The inaugural final become an all Scottish affair, where the Royal Scots Fusiliers, who beat the Highland Light Infantry by 2–1. After independence in 1947, the Durand Cup was accidentally discovered in the office of Commander-in-Chief Sir Claude Auchinleck and efforts were made to shift the tournament to the newly formed Pakistan. It was strongly resisted by the Defence Secretary H.M. Patel. He stored it in the State Bank of India, ensuring that the Durand Cup became a part of Indian football. Since then, the tournament is hosted by the Durand Football Tournament Society, a registered society at Delhi, presided by the Chief of Defence Staff and chaired by the three Service Chiefs of Indian Armed Forces. In 2019, the tournament was jointly organized by the Armed Forces and the Government of West Bengal, thus relocated to West Bengal in favour for higher attendance figures. The tournament was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2021, the Armed Forces decided to host the tournament in West Bengal, jointly with the Government of West Bengal, till 2025. There were teams from Services, West Bengal, Goa, Kerala, Hyderabad, Rajasthan, & Punjab which dominated the tournament during past decades. Sadly, the Tournament today is no longer the cynosure of sports lovers. As regards Field Hockey, a tournament which comes readily to mind is the Beighton Cup, a tournament organized by Hockey Bengal (formerly the Bengal Hockey Association). Started in 1895, it is one of the oldest field hockey tournaments in the world. It’s held every year in Kolkata. The tournament was named after British donor, Judge Thomas Durant Beighton of the Indian Civil Service and Legal Remembrancer to the Government of Bengal. Held on natural grass at the Mohun Bagan ground on the Maidan in Kolkata. For last few years, it has been held on Astro Turf at Sports Authority of India (SAI East) in Kolkata. The Beighton Cup was initially organized by the Indian Football Association, until the Bengal Hockey Association took over in 1905. In the 1940s and 1950s, Bengal had strong teams , Customs & Port Commissioners and Bengal-Nagpur Railway. Bengal even went on to win the 1952 national hockey championship held in Kolkata, defeating Punjab. In his autobiography – Goal!, Dhyan Chand remembered Beighton Cup. This tournament had a non-stop run. World Wars I and II did not affect the tournament. Threats of Japanese bombs and actual bombings of Kolkata, while the hockey season was on, also did not prevent the tournament from being held! The first Indian Olympic team for the Amsterdam Games was selected in Kolkata after the 1928 nationals. Twenty-seven Olympic gold medals, two silver medals and one bronze medal is what Bengal’s hockey can boast of. All that is history now. Kolkata no longer has even a single hockey Olympian! Despite its pioneering role in the history of Indian hockey, Kolkata is the only major metropolis in India without good artificial turfs. Gurbux Singh, secretary of the Bengal Hockey Association and 1964 Olympics Gold Medal Winner, who has been long associated with Hockey in Kolkata, laments the decline of Hockey in Kolkata. The great Leslie Claudius said the absence of Astroturf is responsible for this decline. He played for Customs in Kolkata, and won 4 Olympic medals from 1948 to 1960 (3 gold, 1 silver). He once wistfully said – “Ours was a different era. We were successful, so the enthusiasm for the game was naturally high. How can you have that today? Even the educational institutions are not interested in hockey nowadays. But you can’t blame them. Young people don’t find hockey exciting enough.”
What is indeed gloomy is that not only the current generation has least fondness for these field games but two world class Indian tournaments are flagging. They have simply lost their sheen! Should India, as a nation, not attempt to revive them? After all, Firaq Gorakhpuri said:- Ek muddat se teri yaad bhi ayi na hamey Aur hum bhul gaye ho tujhe aisa bhi nahi ….By Sidhartha Mukherjee
