Thank you hockey India coach "Brasa"

Thank you coach Brasa

You have restored my vision of the grace & charm of what used to be Indian hockey.

You have no idea what memories you have jogged. The right sided combo of Virender, Ashok kumar & Ganesh , hurtling down the right flank, with exquisite understanding & dribbling acumen, or the delectable Mohammed Shahid, dribbling through the whole Dutch defence in the 1982 Bombay World Cup, & his (match tying) goal bound shot being stopped by the goalie at the Buzzer, or an incident of a Karnatak centre-forward taking the ball from the bully weaving & dribbling through the entire defense & putting the ball into the goal within 30 secs of the start of the match. Benny Boodle & Inam ur Rehman playing a 1-2 tag match against the opposing team, in the venerable 1968 Aga Khan tournament, one spring evening in Bombay, that started this writer on an incredible 15 year journey into witnessing the wonders of Indian Hockey.

I do not care whether India wins or loses, though I am sure others, including you, do. To me you have reinstated the fluidity, the artistry, the breathtaking but judicious use of skills, that we witnessed in years gone by, that wowed the rest of the world. Even now spectators the world over, come to see “the Indians play”, to witness (as one Dutch club team coach aptly described) magic. What with the dominance of athletic Australians, crafty Dutch, solid Germans, there is still evidence from all quarters around us, both young & old, that the world is excited by, enthralled by the play of the Indians, akin to the Brazilians in Soccer. Here are some examples

A collective gasp of awe from the whole stadium, in unison, spontaneously, in Milton Keyes, WC 1986, when Pargat Singh dribbled through 5 consecutive players & made a pinpoint pass, which went to naught.

The enormous financial loss toThe FIH, when the Indian Team, did not make the Beijing Olympics.

Luciana Aymar (Arg) & Teun De Noojer (Holl), both multi-“players of the year” & both exhibit the Indian style of play.

Dr Ric Charlesworth, along with Dhyanchand ,the best player ever, expressing his admiration on multiple occasions for the Indian hockey style of play.

The comment in an email to me, by the USA National Hockey Champion, Wake Forest, Coach Averill, who after witnessing, the junior India girls play in Boston, WC 2009, remarked, that they were “fantastic.” In fact so impressed was she, that the only jersey she bought for her son, as a souvenir, was an Indian jersey. Another USA backing, University coach commenting on a losing effort of the same team against USA, remarked to me that the Indian Team game was so graceful, that she likened it to a swan, in contrast to USA, who in a winning effort, were “jerky.”& unimpressive.

Her comment “the Indians play the game as it should be played”

Thank you Coach Brasa, for reminding the current Indian hockey players of the ancient ancestral skill, that you finish off a move where you dribbled past 2 consecutive players, with an exquisite pass, or to stop using long unstoppable hard hits to advance the ball, to show them, that with team work, & slick passing you can achieve the same, if not a better result, than dribbling through players.

Thank you, for looking after them like your own children, always fighting for them, against all odds against an ignorant & self serving establishment, looking after their nutritional & fitness requirements, teaching them to think for themselves, to express themselves both on & off the field. You have done a service for these poor souls who are artisans, of a dying art form,( dribbling, swerving, superb stickwork), the result of years of labor, who toil selflessly for few rewards except a meager livelihood, even though knowing, that for some of them the future may mean becoming destitute, (some of them are day laborers), in contrast to athletes of similar stature in cricket, soccer, basketball, & even lesser sports like women’s beach volleyball, who make a handsome income & have a secure future.. They are some of the most unassuming athletes on this planet.

Thank you also for teaching them that only making moves & exhibiting exhilarating skills is not sufficient & one & all of them need to defend, pass, & use tactics & strategy. Thank you, for having the guts to teach a new culture to Indian Hockey, with new concepts of all rounders, man to man marking, no more primadonna players.

Also further thanks are due to you for blending the European modern style of play with the Indian skillful play & making believers of skeptics,(your own Indian wards), who could not believe that they had it in them to do anything European or “defensive” or “body play” as it is called locally. Hopefully that has confined this debate of Asian vs European style to only armchair erstwhile old Indian players, who can only comment ignorantly, on this subject, conveniently forgetting that they are the ones who started the slide of Indian hockey, because of their deficiencies.

Hopefully you have shown the way for other Indian coaches to widen their horizon & to train their teams on playing Scientific(translation all world)hockey & have shown the current set of players that they need to dissipate the knowledge gleaned from their coach to other players, both impressionable & experienced. Thank you for making a tremendous, thankless, (against innumerable odds) effort, in making a small dent in the enormous task of reviving Indian Hockey, in turn reviving World Hockey, & reinforcing the thinking of FIH that “India is it” —crucial for survival of World Hockey.

But above all, I want to thank you personally, from the bottom of my heart, for giving me a chance to watch our current team which is a different team unlike all others we have witnessed. They play modern, pleasing hockey as it should be played, showcasing skills, fluidity & understanding. They may not bring the desired results but they are sure pleasing to watch & do entertain. They bring back fond memories & bring a smile to my eyes. I do not know what is in store for you & your Indian team but in my eyes you have already achieved the impossible, given us legions of Indian fans, all over the world, hope for the future. We shall remain eternally grateful.