No Chak De for this hockey team

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Indian hockey team failed to win even a single match at the London Olympics, disppointing not just fans, but the nation too

When the Indian hockey team qualified for 2012 London Olympics, there was so much hope and excitement in India that people could not stop praying and expecting that this time the Indian hockey team will do something big.

After all, we were the most successful team at the Olympics when it came to men’s hockey. Winning eight gold medals, one silver medal and two bronze medals in hockey is by no means an ordinary feat. However, since then, there has been a downslide in their performance. The Indian hockey team has performed so badly that it could not win a single match at London Olympics.
“We thought we could do well here, but the team was not good enough for a top-class event like the Olympic Games,” Bharat Chetri, skipper of the Indian hockey team, was quoted as saying after India lost 2-3 to South Africa in the 11-12th place classification match at the Riverbank Arena.
“After witnessing India’s thumping 8-1 victory over France in the Olympic Qualifiers, one of the sport I expected India to do well was men’s hockey. But the team’s performance was very disappointing,” says Vivek Shukla, who works with an MNC in Gurgaon.
Agrees Inder Lal Jaiswal, a retired employee of the Indian Air Force and a hockey follower. “There is no quick-fix solution to set things in order. We need a coach like Chak De! India’s Kabir Khan, who can turn the tide for the Indian hockey team,” he says.
India’s disastrous hockey campaign in the London Games ended with a humiliating bottom spot finish out of the 12 competing nations. The sorry saga of six successive defeats, thus, drew curtains to India’s painful journey in the London Games.
Aakash Chopra, former Indian cricketer, tweeted, “Waiting for Hockey India to release a statement that being the 12th best team in the World isn’t that bad a thing. We’ll get a gold in 2016.”
Not only former hockey players and cricketers, comic artists like Jaspal Bhatti too were disappointed over Team India’s performance.
“Indian hockey team applies for political asylum in London,” Jaspal Bhatti tweeted. “As a sequel to ‘Chak de India’ #SharukhKhan is now planning ‘Bas kar India’ on #hockey,” Bhatti tweeted again.
Sachin Tendulkar once said that watching Team India win the 1983 Cricket World Cup inspired him to dream about winning a World Cup someday for the country. That victory not only inspired Sachin, but it inspired many other youngsters to take up cricket. Their dream came true when the Indian cricket team won the cricket World Cup in 2011. So cricketers like Kapil Dev, Sachin Tendulkar, K. Srikkanth are the role models for many young cricketers.
Unfortunately, in hockey, we don’t have such role models. The Indian hockey needs inspiration and role models who can motivate youngsters to take the game seriously. Only then we can call it our national game.