India Is Capable Of Springing A Surprise

- Jagbir Singh

As a child studying in Class V in St. An­thony’sDay School of Jesus andMary, I didn't have much idea about what the celebrations really meant on March 15, 1975 at my residence in Agra. I was won­ dering why petha, the famous sweet, was being distributed when India defeated Pakistan in the hockey World Cup.

The newspapers were flooded with coverage and pictures of hockey stars and the glittering trophy held by Sardar Ajitpal Singh along with the legendary Sardar Balbir Singh ji and other prominent players. Ours was a hockey-loving family and I asked my father about the success stories related to the World Cup. He proudly shared them and also told me about the goals scored by Aslam Sher Khan, Ashok Kumar, Harcharan Singh and others.

The distribution of sweets never stopped as the people whom came to meet my father kept asking, “Aapki hockey team vishv cup jeet gayee hai meethai naheen khil­ aoge.” The whole nation was celebrating the success of a sport which was loved by one and all.

I didn’t show much interest in hockey even during the 1978 World Cup. All that changed during the 1981­82 World Cup, when India hosted the tournament for the first time, that too on natural grass, even though artificial turf had been introduced and top­level hockey was played on it.