Ajit Pal Singh, World Cup Winning Captain, Says Hockey Holds Place of Pride In India From 1947 to 2021
Reflecting on the glorious past of his own career as well as India’s 74 years of independence, Singh said: “I am very happy that India is independent and I was born in the year when independence was given to us. Hockey was very much prevalent in British India as well as Independent India. We played hockey at the 1928, 1932 and 1936 Olympics and won gold in each of them. And also post-Independence. Hockey was prevalent in Punjab, cantonment areas. Hockey was basically introduced by the British troops,” remembered Singh, adding, “My village folks wanted to watch them, followed them and played with them. That was how hockey was introduced. I slowly became more aware about hockey. When in school, I started improving and there was no looking back. Playing for Punjab schools, university team and Punjab state for 20 years, seven times as champions. I entered the national squad in 1966.”
Singh also sounded very optimistic about Indian hockey and India as a nation moving forward. “The Indian hockey team has shown improvement. I can see some revival, from 12th position to third. They have earned their position by performing. They should carry on and should not be complacent that they have won an Olympic medal. They should vie for the first two positions. We are not far behind; we are No. 3. and we can get there. For India as a nation, I have very positive expectations. People are more educated now, people are more aware now. There are certain issues that need to be taken care of. I am sure the governments will take care of those things. Comparing India of the 1950s and 1960s to today, it is different, more confident, more educated and more vibrant.”
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The country that has seen the highs and lows in Indian hockey, Singh regarded the 1975 World Cup gold medal as the most defining moment of his career. “In my career, the 1975 World Cup that we won is the greatest moment of my career. I was the captain of the team. We were expected to win gold and we managed that. That, to me, is the greatest moment in Indian hockey. I can say as a sportsperson, when the tri-colour is fluttering, people love it. I always loved it. Our flag was always flying high, either in the No. 1, 2 or 3 positions. That’s a moment of pride that we are doing something for the nation. I am very happy I could do my best for hockey. People are still appreciative of it even today.”
When the Indian men’s hockey team won the bronze medal at the recent Tokyo Olympic Games, one former India captain felt “rejuvenated”. As the entire country is rejoicing the glory of Indian hockey, with the men ending the 41-year medal drought and the women’s team entering the semifinals for the first ever time, Singh was feeling over the moon. Singh was the member of the Indian hockey teams at the 1968 Mexico and 1972 Munich Games.
He is happy that Indian hockey has rekindled the interests of the entire nation with the Tokyo bronze medal and said this performance is more valued. “I am very happy that Indian hockey is doing well. They were down to 11th or 12th rank and once, did not even qualify for 2008 Beijing Olympics. With a lot of hard work and a lot of money spent, they have come up. I am rejuvenated as far as hockey is concerned. They deserved to bring home the bronze.”
Asked to compare the latest bronze medal with the two bronze medals that he won during his playing days, Singh said: “When I was playing, our target used to be the gold medal always. We fell short sometimes with silver or bronze. The target was gold, nothing less than that. Our bronze medal was not appreciated in 1968 and 1972. People were not bothered as they said ‘we were expecting gold from you’. This team really fought well for bronze and is much appreciated.”
Singh has also seen the transformation of hockey as the number one sport in India and it being upstaged by cricket while other disciplines have also brought laurels to the country. He said: “When I played hockey in the 1960s and 1970s, hockey was the No.1 sport in India. Then cricket took over. It is the No. 1 sport. Things have changed. A lot of other sports have also come in with boxing, shooting, badminton and wrestling being medal winners at the Olympic Games. I am happy we have won the first ever Olympics gold medal in track and field (courtesy Neeraj Chopra’s javelin gold recently).”
The memories of going through the hardships of playing and travelling in the 1960s is still fresh in Singh’s mind. He reminisced: “I have seen India when India was very primitive. People used to be on bicycles, there were very few motorcycles and cars were very rare. I have seen people in Punjab going in marriage processions on bullock carts. India was quite backwards then. After the 1960s, we as a country picked up, started progressing, there were many ups and downs. Gradually, education made all of them tough. Of course, hockey has given a lot of pride to the nation – eight Olympic gold, one silver and three bronze medals besides the Asian Games and World Cup medals.”
With everything advanced these days in all walks of life, hockey is no less – sponsors, foreign coaches, support staff, equipment and travel have made it comfortable for the players today. Singh remembered the challenges he faced in his playing days.
“We had different sorts of problems when we started playing hockey. Hockey was the No. 1 sport in the country and everyone expected that kind of result from us. We did not have all the facilities that today’s players are getting. We were travelling in third class by train. Travel by air could not even be imagined. I still remember playing an international tournament in Bombay (as Mumbai was called then) in 1969 or 1970, we were staying at the hockey stadium, sleeping on the stands while the other teams were staying in five-star hotels. Today, everything is made comfortable – travel, stay, money, jobs. There were no incentives then. You come back with a medal, you are told ‘well played and win the medal again’. We played basically for personal satisfaction. We were getting a lot of respect and that made us happy. That was an encouragement for us.
“Now things have changed. The players are given cash awards in crores of rupees. For the 1975 World Cup gold, we were given approx. ₹50,000 each. The mindset then was that if you gave money to players, they would be spoiled. It was all rubbish. The administrators were enjoying the perks but not the hockey players in those days. We came up the hard way, from the villages and played on our own. There was no promotion of the sport. Things were different then. Now you are inviting foreign coaches. We never had a doctor with the team for the World Cups. There was only a coach and a manager. Those were the days. Now you have so many support staff, physiotherapist, doctor, various coaches, analysts, you name it and they are there. There was no assessment of opponents then. Now they analyse everything that the opponents do.”
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Singh and his 1975 team-mate Aslam Sher Khan, were beneficiaries of a petrol pump, which the former captain did not make a great deal about. “Nobody came to give us the petrol pump. Aslam Sher Khan and I applied. Anybody could apply for a petrol pump. We both applied and were allotted two or three years later. We fell in the criteria, so we applied and got it.”
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