Three-time Olympic gold medallist Balbir Singh ‘Senior’ feels with Harendra Singh as coach, the men’s team is on the right path.
New Delhi: Balbir Singh Dosanjh is a happy man these days. The legendary three-time Olympic gold medallist, regarded as the successor to Dhyan Chand as a hockey wizard, has not been this pleased with the performance of the Indian men’s hockey team in a long, long time.
At the Asian Games being held in Indonesia, the team has dominated Group A so far, winning all four of its matches (up to 26 August), and registering a mind-boggling goal difference of 53, with big victories against minnows Indonesia (17-0) and Hong Kong (26-0), an 8-0 win against Japan and a creditable 5-3 victory over South Korea.
And the former India captain, popularly known as Balbir Singh ‘Senior’, believes the team is headed for glory, not just at the Asiad, but beyond.
“We have to adjust according to the team in front — what are their weak positions and where you should attack. I won’t comment on any particular player, but I must say everyone is playing as a team and there are good chances of winning,” he told ThePrint.
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Follow Harendra to return to Olympic glory
In addition to being part of three Olympic victories at London 1948, Helsinki 1952 and Melbourne 1956 (as captain), Balbir Singh was also the manager and chief coach of the Indian team that won the 1975 World Cup. And he believes that in Harendra Singh, India has finally hit upon the right coach to restore the country to glory.
“Everyone knows Harendra is a very experienced coach, he has built some great teams. The players who follow him will do well,” the legendary centre-forward said.
Harendra, who has previously coached the Indian women’s team, was given charge of the men’s team on 1 May, and has already led the team to a creditable runners-up finish at the Champions Trophy.
Asked specifically about India’s chances at the next Olympics, Balbir Singh said: “Players are not machines. It depends on how they play on that particular day. But with Harendra as the coach, I am sure the team will perform well.”
The AstroTurf question
There is a popular perception that the introduction of artificial surfaces (also known as AstroTurf) in field hockey was what led to the decline of the ‘artistic’ South Asian form of hockey, turning it into a game of speed and stamina over skill.
The record bears this out — neither India nor Pakistan have been to the final since Los Angeles 1984, with India’s last gold medal coming at the boycott-riddled Moscow Olympics in 1980. In fact, at Montreal 1976, when AstroTurf was first introduced, India didn’t even feature in the top four.
However, the Padma Shri awardee denied that this was a factor.
“It does not matter whether the ground is synthetic or made of grass. It all depends on the player and her/his ball control,” he said.
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Hockey in popular culture
Hockey was once India’s most popular game, but that seems like a long time ago. The last four decades have seen the decline of hockey and the rise and rise of Indian cricket.
A couple of Hindi films have tried to buck that trend — the Shah Rukh Khan-starrer Chak De! India in 2007 and the recently-released Akshay Kumar-starrer Gold.
Balbir Singh appreciated both these movies for helping promote the sport again, but was not pleased with the depiction of Himmat Singh — based on him — in Gold.
“Himmat Singh has been shown as an aggressive person, but I am not. When the referee used to make me sit out of the game, I always followed the instructions like a good sportsman should,” said Singh.