DNA Edit: Why not hockey?

And suddenly, we are a nation smitten with hockey. Never mind the fact that so many of us were completely unaware that India would be facing off against Pakistan in the quarterfinals of the Hockey World League (HWL) semifinals in London. This is only natural. Reams of newspaper columns and hours of news broadcast made sure that we could not escape — even for a moment — the onerous gravity of an India-Pakistan cricket match, where the Indian cricket team was just about presented as a proxy for our soldiers and the possibility of a defeat was unthinkable, if not one beyond redemption.
But India did lose, and the Indian cricket team has handled the defeat gracefully. Not so, Indians. Theatrics were on full display after India’s unfortunate defeat. Many dramatically broke their TV sets, some denunciated the team, criticising them of robbing India’s pride (as if they are the arbiters of when and how and under what circumstances India can lose its ‘pride’) and a few others made empty, mindless accusations of players fixing the match. All of this is a vent, if you will, to the primed-up combativeness that is often generated in the run-up to an India-Pakistan duel.

All this is bluster and noise and has rightfully been ignored. Moving on from the defeat, there are silver linings. One, for instance, is the blazing performance of the Indian men’s hockey team in the HWL. While their clash with Netherlands is still on the cards, the boys are riding high after registering confident wins against Scotland by 4 to 1; against Canada by 3 to 0 and after decimating Pakistan by 7 to 1. Another of India’s champions, Kidambi Srikanth, beat Japan’s Kazumasa Sakai in two straight sets of 21-11 and 21-19 to lift the Indonesia Open men’s super series title, while bagging a cheque of $75,000. These victories are being hailed and proferred as a salve for India’s cricketing defeat.

But, what if the Indian cricket team had emerged victorious? Predictably — as it is happening in Pakistan — Indians would have swarmed the streets, waving flags, cheering and painting the town red. Barring a small clique of hockey and badminton enthusiasts, sports journalists and dedicated followers, few others would have bothered with the details of the hockey team’s or Kidambi’s victory. The Indian hockey team and Srikanth receiving interest and adulation that was originally intended for the cricket team is an insult to the craft and fortitude of these players. It is high time India pays heed to other sports, or they will continue languishing in the shade of cricket’s monopoly.