One thing that has disturbed me during the Olympic 2012 which is going on in London is the dismal performance of our hockey team. I watch their matches thinking they will show some brilliance, some latent fire of their stick play of earlier years. But, no, they don't. They are as wooden as ever, slow, lethargic and without any motivation of any sort. I watch as a cross pass is given, the ball shoots towards the goalkeeper at great speed, and two Indian players are standing directly in the path of the ball. All they have to do is push the ball in and there is a goal. Both of them do not even try to move their sticks to show that an attempt was made. They - both of them - stand like wooden trunks when the ball whizzes past them. It looks as if they were shy to push it in, some kind of obscene act.
God forbid, such players ruining our chances and our name. And along comes this commenter, who drones in a sad voice full of self-pity and remorse amidst sighs and, then hoarsely whispers, "Kya din the, woh din nahi ayega," et cetera. Oh God! What happened to the so-many-times hockey champions? The coach says the players are not able to understand basic kindergarten stuff. Yes, he said it. Yes another incident, reinforces my belief that Indian hockey needs a thorough overhaul:
There's a meddlesome fracas near the Indian goal. The ball is cleared. The Indian team members do not follow the ball and counter attack but stand around again like the aforementioned tree trunks. The Belgian players take advantage and shoots the ball right in, an easy stoppable shot, right in front of three Indian players and the goalkeeper. Goal! Another goal and another ignominious exit.
As I mentioned before God help our hockey team!
I am @johnwriter on Twitter and John.Matthew on Facebook. I blog here. View my Youtube Channel Page. Read about my novel Mr. Bandookwala, M.B.A., Harvard.
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