Remembering India's win in Moscow Olympics

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Finding V. Baskaran’s house on 29th Street in Kalakshetra Colony is not difficult. The iconic Olympic rings adorn the front wall of the former Indian hockey captain’s splendid Besant Nagar residence. The Olympics and Baskaran are inseparable because he still remains the last Indian to lead the country to a gold medal at the Games.

India won their eighth Olympic gold medal at Moscow in 1980. It is not a medal that is highly valued by hockey pundits across the world as strong teams such as Australia, West Germany, the Netherlands and Pakistan followed the US in boycotting the Games. The absence of the big guns, no doubt, made India’s job easier.

The Moscow Games was the last glittering chapter in India’s glorious hockey history. The eight-time Olympic gold medallists haven’t reached the semifinals of an Olympics or a World Cup since the high at the Russian capital.

Even people who may not follow hockey keenly know Baskaran. His name is the answer for a staple question in Olympic quizzes for novices. For those who have an abiding love for India’s national game, Baskaran’s team is a sad reminder of the stranglehold the country had on world hockey.

Baskaran, an Arjuna awardee and a Padma Shri, is not happy to hold the honour of being the last Indian captain to win an Olympic gold. It is a distinction he would be ecstatic to pass on to someone else at the earliest. But there is no successor in sight because qualification to an Olympics, and not winning it, is India’s primary concern these days. The pain of missing out on the Beijing Games hasn’t subsided yet.

The hockey world has undergone a sea change in the last three decades. India’s glory years are a distant memory as teams such as Germany, Australia and the Netherlands have reached a different level. Hockey still needs India but the country isn’t yet ready to reach the summit that it had once owned. India are still a work in progress in a sport that they had taught the world in the 50s.

Whether it had sheen or not, the Moscow gold is dear to Baskaran’s heart. “We won the gold after 16 years. By no means, did it come easy. We had to earn it against a fantastic Spanish team in the final. Those who watched the match would aver for its quality. The final score line — 4-3 — indicates how close the gold medal contest was,” he said.

Baskaran said his Olympic dreams had been fuelled by India’s success at the 1964 Games. “Hockey has always been an integral part of my life ever since I grabbed a stick when I was in school. All my brothers played the game with passion and distinction. I preserved the newspaper cuttings of India’s reports at the 1964 Games assiduously. Our win over Pakistan in the final at Tokyo was special. It was the moment I dared to dream about my Olympics,” he added.

The former India coach said he remembers the medal ceremony of the Moscow Olympics as if it happened yesterday. “There is nothing to match the poignancy of seeing your national flag raised when you stand on the podium. Only a brave man would be able to hold back his tears when the national anthem is played. I was weak,” he added.