The hype didn’t live up to the expectations. The dream was finally shattered with the Indian hockey team failing to reach the Oympics for the first time since 1928. We failed to reach a show that we produced, directed and starred in.

We need some in-depth introspection rather than to blame the team and burn effigies.

Blaming the players is too easy, even if it is in our culture. This team was the best possible squad that could have gone there.

'Why weren’t we in the top six teams of the world who directly qualify for the tournament?'


But was the dream unrealistic? Winning all the games and reaching the Olympics in itself sounds a tough assignment. But the guys were up for it. They were ready to take on everyone to turn the dream of a billion into reality. So why blame them?

Instead we should look at why we were in such a position that we had to play the qualifiers to get to the Olympics. Why weren’t we in the top six teams of the world who directly qualify for the tournament?

It’s easy to blame an autocratic Sardar Singh; it’s easier to blame the players who I believe are even more disappointed than the most ardent fan.

Several players, like Dhanraj Pillay, were sacked after the Asian Games gold in Bangkok. Compare his sacking to the number of people who took to the streets when an out-of-form Sourav Ganguly was stripped of his place in the national side. Isn’t this bias towards the national sport?

So why blame the media and the corporates? Why would the media highlight something which won’t fetch it TRPs and why would corporates give sponsorship to something which does not sell to the public. At the end of the day if you believe that you don’t get satisfaction watching your country’s national game why would corporations put money on something which wont bring in revenue?

One of the largest selling newspapers suggested the appointment of Rahul Gandhi as sports minister to revive the national game. Somebody please explain how such an appointment of a politician would help. What is needed is a person who is independent and inot influenced by external pressure. Accountability is the key word.

We need to look at hockey having a much higher status in Indian sport. What is needed is a reincarnation after the untimely 'death' of not qualifying.

Consider this statistic; Holland and Germany have more than 600 astroturf pitches between them and we have just 21. This shows the shabby condition in which our players are developed. The so-called development of India's young players at the hinterland level. Coaches must be brought in to train kids hand-picked by specialists.

I know most of the things I have written will fall on deaf ears but some measures have to be taken and the sooner they are taken the better in the national interest.