Lucknow: The magic of Dhyan Chand, the artistry of Mohammed Shahid, and the sublime dribbling of KD Singh ‘Babu’ have their roots in the land of nawabs, kebabs, and poets – Uttar Pradesh. Once the cradle of Indian hockey, its players possessed a certain quality – flamboyant, skilful, with a silken touch – and saw them figure prominently in the country’s gold medal-winning Olympic campaigns. After India’s eighth Olympic gold in 1980, Moscow – in which Shahid played a starring role – it took 41 years for the country to win another Olympic medal. In this period, UP hockey suffered a slide, and its glory days faded into nostalgia.
In 2021, when India won a bronze at the Tokyo Olympics, Varanasi’s Lalit Kumar Upadhyay was part of the medal-drought ending side. This year, in Paris, India won its second successive Olympic bronze in hockey. Upadhyay’s colleague at UP’s Karampur Hockey Academy, Raj Kumar Pal– raised by a widowed mother with limited means – shone at the Games, earning PCs and scoring the winning goal for 10-man India in the quarterfinal against Great Britain.
“Hockey runs in our veins. It’s our culture. We grew up listening to stories of Dhyan Chand Ji, Babu Sahab and Mohd Shahid ji. I dreamt of becoming a hockey player right from when I was a kid. It’s not a mere sport, but a heritage for all of us,” said Lalit. Now, with the Hockey India League (HIL) being revived after a seven-year hiatus, there’s money and opportunity in it for existing players and an incentive for many others from the state to take up the sport.
Upadhyay was bought for ₹28 lakhs by the UP Rudras while Pal went to Delhi SG Pipers for a whopping 40 lakhs. Other UP players who were bought by other franchises included Amir Ali (35 lakhs), Uttam Singh ( ₹23 lakhs), Vishnukant Singh ( ₹20 lakhs), Shardanand Tiwari ( ₹7.5 lakhs), Ali Khan ( ₹6 lakhs), and Saurabh Anand Kushwaha ( ₹5 lakhs).
“Most of our hockey players come from humble backgrounds and their circumstances perhaps inspire them to do well. Also, it’s relatively less expensive to play than any other sport in India,” said Upadhyay, who calls Varanasi’s hockey culture a major driving force for him.
Recently, four players from UP were part of the winning Indian side at the Asian Champions Trophy while five juniors recently made it to the Indian squad for the Sultan of Johor Cup at Malaysia. This year, UP won the 14th Sub-Junior Championship, whereas the junior side finished runners-up at the nationals.
“We have a strong system of selection in all age categories as performance is the only criterion of selection,” said UP Hockey’s secretary, RP Singh, who is also the chairman of the Hockey India selection panel.
“When I sit down to pick the national teams, it’s not about states or regions, all that matters is performance,” he said. “I have felt the pain of being left out despite being talented so I try to make sure that current players don’t face similar injustice in selection.”
Last week, hosts UP won the prestigious 42nd All India KD Singh ‘Babu’ Hockey Tournament for the first time here in Lucknow, defeating CAG, New Delhi 4-3 in a thriller. “There is a craze for hockey among the youngsters of the state especially after India’s back-to-back bronze medal successes at the Olympics. We also have a robust coaching system across the state,” said UP’s chief coach and former India captain Rajneesh Mishra.
“My mission is simple. When I spot interesting players across the state, I bring them to Lucknow for further training. It’s important to groom them well for national and international challenges,” he said, “Hockey India League works as a further incentive to pursue hockey.”
Former Sports Authority of India, coach Rashid Aziz Khan said since the first season of the Hockey India League in 2013, there has been a sea change in approach towards the game and talented players are no longer going unnoticed.
“Look at UP players like Uttam Kumar, Amir, Sharda Nand Tiwari, Vishnukant and Mumtaz Khan, they all come from humble backgrounds. The father of one of the players is a guard, the other is a motor mechanic, while Mumtaz’s parents sell vegetables. So, though they come from poor families, hockey offers them hope for recognition, money and even jobs,” said Khan.
One of the finest forwards of his time, Syed Ali, who played the 1976 Olympics, finds that the new hockey coaching culture in the state is having an impact.
“Over half-a-dozen former Olympians and World Cuppers have been hired by the state government to give training to youngsters at the hockey hostels and sports colleges on a monthly remuneration of ₹1.5 lakh and that’s proving to be a big boost to the coaching culture of hockey in the state.”
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