“Cricket by Chance, Hockey by Skill and Football by Power� as the old saying goes. India had a glorious past in the sport of Hockey. With 11 Olympic medals including 8 Gold, 1 Silver and 2 Bronze medals, India is the most successful team in the history of field Hockey. Before the advent of AstroTurf, India produced some high caliber and skillful players who were at ease while scoring field goals. A few of them also played on Astro turf.
Dhyan Chand
Table of Contents
The greatest player India ever produced was Major Dhyan Chand, the Wizard. He was known for his brilliant stick-work and ball control. Dhyan Chand won three Olympic Gold medals, at Amsterdam (1928), Los Angeles (1932) and Berlin (1936). Watching him play, Australian legendary batsman Don Bradman said, “He (Dhyan Chand) scores goals like runs in cricket�. India’s highest award for lifetime achievement in sports is named after Dhyan Chand. He is the recipient of Padma Bhushan (1956). Dhyan Chand’s Hockey stick was the subject of extensive research as it was claimed he had a magnet in his stick and that he applied glue on his stick. The German dictator, Hitler, even offered the Hockey magician German citizenship and a rank of a Colonel, so he could represent West Germany, to which he refused.
Udham Singh
Udham Singh, won 3 Olympic gold medals and 1 silver medal. He was part of the Helsinki (1952), Melbourne (1956) and Tokyo (1964) Olympic gold-winning teams and won silver at the 1960 Rome Olympics. After his playing career, he took charge of the Indian team as manager winning the silver medal at the Mexico Olympics in 1968 and the 1970 Asian Games in Bangkok. He was conferred with the Arjuna award in 1965.
Leslie Claudius
Leslie Claudius, along with Udham Singh, won the most Olympic medals (3 Gold and 1 Silver) for India. He is considered to be the best half-back in the history of the sport. He was the first player to have represented India in four consecutive Olympics and win 100 caps. He was manager of the Indian team at the 1978 Asian Games in Bangkok, where India finished 2nd. In 1971, he was felicitated with the Padma Shri Award.
Balbir Singh Sr
Balbir Singh Sr is the only player in the history of the sport to have scored 5 goals in an Olympic match where he scored 5 in a 6-1 win against the Netherlands in the final. He became the second Indian to win three Olympic gold medals in London (1948), Helsinki (1952) and Melbourne (1956). He captained the team at the Melbourne Olympics. He also represented the Indian team which returned with silver medals from the 1958 and 1962 Asian Games. After his playing career, he took charge of the Indian team as the coach, guiding the team to a 3rd placed finish at the 1971 Hockey World Cup which he bettered by winning the 1975 World Cup, the only time India won the tournament. In 1957, he was awarded Padma Shri. He has also written two autobiographies namely, The Golden Hat-trick (1977) and The Golden Yardstick: In Quest of Hockey Excellence (2008). The legendary forward is also the only Hockey player and the only Indian to feature in the top 16 most iconic Olympians of all time.
Zafar Iqbal
Zafar Iqbal donned the national colours against Holland in 1977. He played at the Asian Games, Bangkok in 1978 and was the Captain of the team at New Delhi in 1982, winning the silver medal in both. The crowning glory of his illustrious career in Hockey came to him in 1980 when he represented India at the Moscow Olympics and brought home the Gold Medal. He also won the bronze medal for the country at the Champion’s Trophy 1982 in Holland. His extraordinary game as “Left Out� with the number 11 embossed at the back is a glorious part of the history of Indian Hockey. After hanging his Hockey sticks he immersed himself in coaching as the Chief National Coach, head Coach and National Selector for the Indian Hockey squad. The team coached by him won the silver medal at the Asian Games in Hiroshima in 1994. The country conferred Zafar Iqbal with the “Arjuna Award� in 1983. In 2012, the President of India honoured him with the “Padma Shri� and the U. P. Government gave him the highest citizen award of the state, “Yash Bharti� in 1994. He was felicitated at the ‘Golden Greats’ platform by ‘Hockey India’ along with 34 other Olympic Gold Medalists in 2012.
Mohammed Shahid
Mohammed Shahid was born on 14 April 1960 in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh. He made his first appearance for India in the junior team in 1979 at the Junior World Cup in France. Shahid made his first senior team appearance the same year in a four-nation tournament in Kuala Lumpur, after his inclusion in the team following his impressive performance in the Aga Khan Cup. During his playing days, Shahid was known for his running ability, dribbling of the ball and push which was as fast as a hard hit. His attacking partnership on the field with Zafar Iqbal was well known. Zafar at left-out and Shahid at right-in positions penetrated the best of the defenses around the world with their superb understanding and passing of the ball. Zafar also pointed that Shahid was instrumental in India winning the gold medal at the 1980 Olympic Games.  He was awarded the ‘Best Forward player’ at the 1980 Champions Trophy in Karachi. He was a member of the team that won the gold at the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow, silver at the 1982 Asian Games and bronze at the 1986 Asian Games. He also played in the World Cup in Mumbai (then Bombay) in 1981–82, the Los Angeles Olympic Games in 1984 and the Seoul Games in 1988. He captained the Indian team during 1985–86. He announced his retirement from international Hockey in January 1989. His biggest contribution to Hockey was the ‘half push- half hit’- a stroke he used to hit the ball using the same grip used to dribble the ball. The same stroke was adapted by his successor Dhanraj Pillay. Earlier the stroke or technique did not exist in a field Hockey player’s catalogue or in the game’s coaching manual. His awards included Arjuna Award(1980–81) and Padma Shri (1986).
Dhanraj PillayÂ
Although Dhanraj Pillay made his debut in December, 1989 and hung his boots in August, 2004 after a glorious career which saw him captain the Indian side. Pillay is the only player to have represented the country in 4 Olympics (1992, 1996, 2000 and 2004), 4 World Cups (1990, 1994, 1998 and 2002), 4 Asian Games (1990, 1994, 1998 and 2002) and 4 Champions Trophies (1995, 1996, 2002 and 2003). Under his captaincy, India won the 1998 Asian Games and 2003 Asian Cup. At times, he single-handedly carried India to victory and will go down in history as the most talented player to not have won an Olympic medal. In 339 appearances for the national team, Pillay scored 170 goals. He was conferred with the Padma Shri Award, Arjuna Award and the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award.
Thoiba Singh
Thoiba Singh (born February 1, 1961) represented India at the Olympics and Asian Games. He played as a left-winger and was known for his speed and stamina. He was a member of the 1988 Summer Olympics field Hockey team in which India came in the 6th place. Other than Olympics, he represented India at Asia Cup 1985, 1989, Champions Trophy 1985, 1989, Azlan Shah Trophy 1985, 1986 Asian Games, 1990, World Cup 1986, Indo-Pak Test Series 1986, Five-nation 1988 and Indira Gandhi tournament 1987.
Hockey becomes a Muscular Sport: Astroturf take the word Skill out of Hockey. Who wins the Modern Day Hockey Match?
The penalty corner is an important part of the game. The importance became more pronounced since artificial turf became mandatory for top-level competitions in the 1970s. The Netherlands‘ Paul Litjens was the former leading international scorer with 267 goals in 177 matches and was a specialist in hitting goals from penalty corners. Litjens and early specialists were accurate, hard-hitters of the ball, however, the introduction of the drag flick to counter the goalkeepers that lie down during the hit became the favoured technique. This led to the introduction of experts in this skill and Litjens’ record was surpassed by Pakistani player Sohail Abbas who, often described as the “world’s best” penalty corner and drag flick specialist. India’s Sandeep Singh is also regarded as one of the best and has the fastest drag-flick at 145 km/h (90 mph).
The proportion of field goals scored through open play reduced as attackers look to create a foul in the penalty circle, particularly from defenders’ feet, rather than shooting directly. The main objective became to produce more goals through Penalty Corners. It also ensured that fouls in the D were reduced. It was clear then, that synthetic pitches actually produce a whole new game, warranting a whole new approach and a whole. New-look Hockey consented to the demands of modern sport: Speed, stamina and strength replaced sublime skill.
Artificial grass based on polyamide/nylon material was introduced in the 1970s. It was considered ideal for Hockey as the synthetic turf pitches provided a flatter playing surface than natural grass. This in turn provided better ball control as it prevented the ball from shooting off into various directions. Sand was spread between the fibers to create enough firmness and stability for the players. The World Hockey magazine reported on the first Hockey tournament played on an artificial pitch in 1975, a trial event in Montreal prior to the Olympics. These characteristics of artificial turf resulted in turf being used for field Hockey games in the 1976 Olympics and the Eight Nations field Hockey tournament. Artificial turf has since been the thrust upon the subcontinent teams. Thus, the transition onto artificial pitches came during the 1970s and was made mandatory for major competitions in 1976. There are three types of artificial Hockey surfaces viz:-
1.             Unfilled or water-based: Artificial fibers that are densely packed for stabilization, requires irrigation or watering to avoid pitch wear.
2.             Dressed or sand-dressed: Artificial fibres can be less densely packed and sand supports the fibers for part of the pile depth.
3.             Filled or sand-filled: Artificial fibers can be longer and less densely packed and sand supports the fibers for 100% of the pile depth.
What are the immediate Benefits accrued by use of artificial turf?
On being introduced, artificial surfaces greatly favored more affluent Western countries who could afford these new pitches. Western countries like Holland, Germany and Australia constructed hundreds of AstroTurf grounds. Not surprisingly, since 1980, Europe and Australia have dominated world Hockey.
What are the claimed Advantages for Using Artificial turf?
1.       The outcome of the game should not be influenced by the surface. So, do we need to carry on playing Hockey on Grass and Clay courts as Astroturf offers advantage to countries who have better physicality’s of players?
2.       Grass fields can get torn up easily especially if the ground is wet. This also can make for dangerous playing conditions. A synthetic surface does not have this same draw back. It is much easier to prepare a synthetic surface than a natural grass field. The field will maintain consistent quality throughout the match.
3.       Maintaining a natural field is expensive which I feel is a misplaced notion. Artificial turf comes with high cost of maintenance. However, unlike natural grass, artificial turf doesn’t require treatment with pesticides and fertilizers which comes with a cost. It also saves water. On water-based pitches, shorter fibers and wetted turf reduce friction and increase the speed at which the game can be played. However, these pitches require watering before, during and after the game and maintenance costs are significant.
4.       Artificial turf took off due to its perfectly groomed appearance, and the fascination with anything that was man-made replacements of nature.
5.       The use of artificial turf in conjunction with changes in the game’s rules (e.g., the removal of offside, introduction of rolling substitutes and the self-pass and to the interpretation of obstruction) have contributed significantly to change the nature of the game, greatly increasing the speed and intensity of play as well as placing far greater demands on the conditioning of the players.
6.       An artificial turf Hockey surface gives you all the room you need to make fast passes with precise ball control. Hockey players enjoy the comfortable cushioning and don’t have to worry about injuries from serious slides. Uniform playing characteristics, predictable ball behaviour and optimal grip make artificial turf the ideal surface for Hockey. Thus, artificial turf’s allows for a higher skill set to flourish on the pitch. This may not be correct. It may increase the speed of ball but the skills are greatly reduced. Since introduction of Astroturf, most of the games are decided by Penalty Corners and not by Field Goals.
What are the disadvantages of using artificial turf?
The biggest disadvantage is probably the occurrence of turf toe. Turf toe is an injury to the base of the big toe that occurs in athletes who play field sports, such as football, baseball or soccer. Turf toe describes an injury to the joint at the base of the big toe when an athlete forcefully jams his toe into the ground or bends his toe backward, beyond its normal limits. The injury often occurs on artificial turf playing field which is why the name “turf toe” was adopted. However modern shoes, and improved surfaces reduce the risk from the early days. Often the injury occurs in athletes wearing flexible soccer-style shoes that let the foot bend too far forward.
Artificial turf gets much hotter than natural grass. The high surface temperatures can cause dehydration and heat exhaustion and are too hot to walk or play on. On a 98-degree day, the temperature on the turf could rise to more than 120 degrees. Studies have shown that athletes who use synthetic turf are seven times more likely to receive turf burns than those who play on natural grass. These open lesions are often the source of contracting and vehicle for spreading dangerous infections. Excessive exposure to lead has been linked to severe mental retardation, stunted growth and death. Older turf fields made from nylon or nylon/polyethylene blend fibers may contain levels of lead that pose a potential public health concern. The fields that most purchase use lead to brighten the field’s colors and for a sport team logo. Older turf products contain toxic chemicals associated with asthma, learning disabilities, and cancer and pollutes water as well. Several potentially dangerous chemical compounds could escape into the air or leach into water under certain conditions. Levels of zinc found leaching into water were inordinately high. Shredded rubber could contain other toxic metals like arsenic, cadmium, chromium, and selenium. When an artificial field drains after a heavy rain, the run-off (which may contain lead and infill material) could leach into and contaminate ground and drinking water. Medical experts have found that staphylococci and other bacteria can survive on polyethylene plastic, the compound used to make synthetic turf blades, for more than 90 days. Blood, sweat, skin cells and other materials can remain on the synthetic turf because the fields are not washed or cleaned. Breathing in dust of ground-up tires could exacerbate breathing problems for asthmatics. Once a stadium goes with artificial turf, it has no choice but to install another artificial turf field when the first one needs to be replaced because once plastic replaces natural grass, it kills any living organism in the subsoil making it impossible without years of soil remediation to grow anything on that surface.
The Subcontinent ContextÂ
For India and Pakistan, introduction of Astroturf was like starting over again with Hockey with foreign countries having an edge. It can be considered as a Coup in Hockey. India is still to come out of this Coup. Before the switch to an artificial surface, the Indian men’s Hockey team were dominant, winning seven of the eight Olympic gold medals between 1928 and 1964. India still has a few AstroTurf grounds. Sardara Singh, the great Indian Hockey player, once remarked that “Hockey players in India play on AstroTurf for the first time at the age of 19 or 20 and find it hard to adaptâ€�.
While Environmental friendly grass, on which Hockey had been played internationally for nearly a century, allowed skilled Indian and Pakistani players to trap the ball, dribble and pass, the artificial AstroTurf, the breeding ground of life threatening diseases suits the physicality based on raw power of European and Australian Hockey players rather than technical skills associated with the game.
A year after winning the World Cup in Kuala Lumpur, Indian Hockey  in the 1976 Montreal Olympics slipped to its all-time low as the team finished seventh. And though India regained the gold medal four years later at the boycott-ridden Moscow Olympics, the country’s Hockey reign and the “golden eraâ€� had well and truly ended. Till the early-1970s, Hockey globally was played on grass. Indian players, bred on the fields of Punjab, Kerala and Goa, were unbeatable. Only Pakistan, with a similar lineage, offered competition.Â
Who is to be blamed?Â
1.       The European countries as they introduced the change without much needed deliberation without taking into account the hazards associated with artificial turfs.
2.       Indian sports administrators not only were they complicit in allowing the change in playing surface from grass to synthetic AstroTurf, they were slow to adapt to it, once the rules had been changed. Astroturf grounds were not laid. Local tournaments continued to be played on grass.
3.       Thus, when India played abroad, it started with a huge handicap.Â
How India can regain its lost glory?Â
Between 1928 Games in Amsterdam to Moscow Olympics in 1980, India won 8 Olympic gold medals in Hockey. Six golds were won from 1928 to 1956. 2 more Gold medals in 1964 and 1980. After 1980, India has not won a single Hockey gold.
The Hockey in India, wrecked by destructive rivalries, have little international influence. The corporate sector, should lead the campaign to restore natural turf as one of two alternative playing surfaces of choice in future international Hockey tournaments. The Hockey India League could set the example in this direction. India can use its growing commercial influence to host a separate annual field Hockey tournament. Just as tennis is played on different surfaces (grass at Wimbledon, clay at the French Open and hard courts at the US and Australian Opens), there is no reason why Hockey can’t have two optional surfaces: AstroTurf and grass. Like tennis players adapt to grass, clay and hard courts within a span of months (between the French Open in May, Wimbledon in July and the US Open in September), so can professional Hockey players. Grass is Hockey’s natural surface. It tests skill not just strength.
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