While the cricketers were busy getting their Champions Trophy kickbacks, the original Greenshirts, the hockey players, were getting kicked in their backs in the wake of whatever happened at the World Hockey League, where they were just not in the same league (pun pretty much intended) with most of the rest.

Defeat, as the saying goes, is an orphan and the national hockey team has suffered so much for so long that it has by now become an orphan who is ignored, neglected and constantly condemned in its own house. Nobody really cares about what the problem is. The orphan himself becomes the problem. That is where hockey stands today in our national mix: a problem with no solution in sight.

The manner in which the Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) reacted is typical of the myopia that lies at the root of this problem. To be frank, this is what lies at the root of most of our ills. But it is sickening in the case of hockey because our nosedive in global terms is as spectacular as it is revolting. It is much worse than even the West Indian fall from grace in cricket.

The newly-appointed hockey head coach is either oblivious to ground realities or is more interested in making the right noise instead of taking the right approach. Whatever the case, the national game continues to suffer

Okay, so what does the PHF do when the team becomes the favourite punching bag of just about everyone … and their dog? They change the selection committee and the team staff in one clean sweep. Now who had appointed those who have now been sacked? It can’t be the same management for sure, right? Wrong. They were pretty much appointed by the same people who have now shown them the door.

Shahbaz Senior, the PHF secretary, explained the change to media in pretty simple words: “The new appointments have been made in order to bring about improvements in the national side.” That is true; all changes are made with this very intention behind them … at least on the face of it. So nothing else could be expected of him. But he had said pretty much the same thing when he had appointed those whom he has now sacked. Of course, that is just the nitty-gritty of it … nitty-gritty of the hairsplitting variety.

Now let’s go a step further and hear out the grand plan of the incoming head coach, Farhat Khan, who, as could be expected, is pretty optimistic. His optimism is expected not because he is talking sense or logic, but expected because it is an unfortunate Pakistani trend to be unrealistically optimistic rather than practically realistic.

Let’s hear it directly from the man. Here is a brief quote from the news story: “Farhat Khan was optimistic that the national team’s performance could be improved through introducing positive and aggressive mindset among players. ‘In [the] past, Pakistan was the powerhouse of hockey and I still do believe that we can achieve the best results’ … He said he did not believe in setting long-term goals. Instead, his focus would be to start winning from the beginning or the first match. ‘I do not like defeat. We had a glorious past in hockey and I witnessed a great era. I do believe in winning every match and I am hopeful that by adopting a policy of aggressive game, we can produce good results’.”

Now who had appointed those who have now been sacked? It can’t be the same management for sure, right? Wrong.

It is pretty difficult what to make of these remarks. If you believe the man, he comes out as a person who has just lost all his marbles and doesn’t have a clue as to what he is talking about. No, ‘lunatic’ is too harsh a word and we would be better off with, say, ‘crazy’. And if you don’t believe him, he comes out as someone who is trying to deliver with words what he can’t deliver with action. No, ‘fraud’, is again too heavy a word and we would be better off with, say, ‘deceptive’.

If the team could start winning just because the country had a great past in the game or because the honourable head coach does not like defeat after having witnessed a great era, the team would have never lost a game all these years because all these years no coach has ever liked defeat, and the past has always been just as great.

What he says he is bringing to the table is an aggressive game plan. God knows what might have gotten into his mind (or is it just a brain?) when he said he didn’t believe in setting long-term goals. If anything, a long-term plan is precisely what the game has needed for a long time. He says he wants to win from day one. Game On. How about first stop losing? Better still, how about first stop losing without a fight and losing with disgrace?

As for aggression, is it possible to be aggressive without fitness for an individual? Is it possible to be aggressive without bench strength for a team? Can such factors be just wished away because the head coach doesn’t like losing? It is quite obvious that the man is simply playing to the gallery and that precisely happens to be the biggest hurdle impeding a U-turn in national hockey. All we can practically and realistically expect is nothing but more of the same.

humair.ishtiaq@gmail.com

Published in Dawn, EOS, July 30th, 2017