What would you do if you see your favorite cricket player sitting nearby with you in Delhi Metro or seeking an auto at a bus stop nearby you? You would definitely be surprised, might follow him or go up to him and appreciate his performance in the designated sport or you would just not bothered. But what would you do if you don’t even recognize your national sports (Hockey) player walking by side near you, shopping in the same market and nobody recognizes that who he is.
That is what the condition of our hockey players is today. Big names like Sandeep Singh, Prabhjot Singh, Rajpal Singh, Sarwanjeet Singh, Chandi comes to the eyes of people only when they score goals, but their pictures gets dissolved by time. Inconsistent performances of our hockey make us forget their names and dissolve their pictures from our head unlike cricket, where we recognize every player in the team, and even those who are sitting on bench.
Two days earlier, my colleague was strolling in Cannaught Place and he saw two of our hockey players doing some shopping. It was a free day for them, as they had to compete for the seventh position in tournament, the day after. He could hardly recognize them in public, but it took no extra effort to recognize them as he was watching hockey matches consistently. These two players were Sarwanjeet Singh and Chandi. He followed them and called from behind “hey (they turned back), Hockey Players?” Singh smiled and nodded, “nice played man” my colleague gesticulated.
Chandi screamed for Auto and the Autowallah stopped. “Meriden chaloge” Chandi enquired. Autowallah refused to go as the Autowallah failed to recognize him. This is the poor condition of our hockey players today. Whether it’s inconsistent performance, uncooperative board or the poor condition of sport, incidents like these demoralize our national players and in turn it reflects in their performances. People keep the memories of scored goals but not the hockey players unlike cricket where every shot is remembered and every gesture of a cricketer is supported whether it is on the field or off the field. Watch hockey, help hockey.