THE two-match series between the World XI and Pakis­tan under-18 hockey teams heralded a new dawn for the national game and is could prove to be the crucial step towards revival of the golden era.

The World XI comprised players from six-nations — Netherlands, Australia, Ger­many, Argeneina, New Zealand and Spain. Pakistan‘s renowned striker Sohail Abbas, who was named captain of the World XI, stayed away for reasons best known to him. Most of the visiting players were veterans with many feathers in their caps.

The World XI was pitted against a young Pakistan under-18 outfit who, despite losing the Karachi match 1-5, put up a resolute performance in the second match at Lahore to hold the experienced World XI to a three-all draw.

Victory and defeat are immaterial but what is important is that the series marked the revival of the game on home soil which was a great sight for hockey-starved fans.

It was a wise decision of the PHF to invest in the juniors and give them exposure. Modern hockey has completely changed and belongs to the youth.

Unfortunately, however, no arrangements were made to bring in school, college students to watch the matches at Karachi and Lahore as the general public enclosures remained empty which was not a great sight.

Looking back in history, Pakistan hockey team has achieved the distinction of performing the Grand Slam twice, the first occasion being the Mexico Olympics (1968), Bangkok Asian Games (1970), Barcelona World Cup (1971) and the second being Mumbai World Cup (1981-82), Delhi Asian Games (1982) and the Los Angeles Olympics (1984).

Such was the passion of people at the time that even a layman could correctly name all the 16-players of Pakistan hockey team. But the last quarter-of-a-century has created a big vaccum and unfortunately, Pakistan is now ranked amongst the also ran.

What can be more embarrassing than Pakistan ’s failure to qualify for the 2014 World Cup, held at The Hague and then at the 2016 Rio Olympics. Pakistan is presently ranked 13th in the FIH rankings, a relegation of eight places in six years.

It is pertinent to mention that Pakistan jumped to fifth spot, their best ranking in recent times, after securing a bronze in the 2012 Champions Trophy at Melbourne. The greenshirts were home 3-2 over India in the playoff for the third position.

Despite suffering from lack of international exposure at home, the greenshirts climbed one place to seize a silver medal in the 2014 Champons Trophy held at Bhubaneswar in front of a hostile Indian crowd. In the final, Pakistan lost 0-2 to Germany.

Besides that, Pakistan annexed a silver at the Incheon Asian Games. But manager Shahnaz Shaikh, who was instrumental in Pakistan winning back-to-back medals, was shown the door following change of guard in the PHF on Aug 28, 2015.

Lahore’s National Hockey Stadium had served as a venue for the 1990 World Cup and the 1994 Champions’ Trophy. Pakistan lost the World Cup final to Holland but lifted the Champions Trophy.

As for Karachi, the last high-profile spectacle that took place was the Champions’ Trophy in 1992 where Pakistan clinched a bronze. Hall of Fame: The selection of foreign and Pakistan stalwarts for the Hall of Fame by PHF has raised many eyebrows. Nobody is challenging the credentials of the legendary players who were named but those who keenly follow the game bitterly criticised the glaring omission of living legends such as Abdul Hamid ‘Hamidi’, Abdul Waheed Khan, Tariq Aziz, Manzoor Hussain Jr besides the late A. I. S. Dara, M. H. Atif and one of the great administrators of all time, Air Marshal Nur Khan among others.

“There were no sane people to advice the PHF to start clockwise and keep a balance,” said the critics.

Hamidi, who led Pakistan to victory at Rome in 1960, had played in four Olympics – 1948, 1952, 1956, 1960. He is alive and should be honoured in his lifetime. He had also served as secretary of the PHF and the Director General of the Pakistan Sports Board (PSB).

Waheed also had an enviable record to his credit. Besides being a member of the victorious Pakistan team at Rome, he managed the Buenos Aires gold medal winning team, the inaugural Champions Trophy at Lahore in 1978, Delhi Asian Games 1982, Asia Cup at Dhaka in 1985 besides winning the inaugural Pakistan-India series in 1978.

His record of 17 goals in a tournament including Pakistan’s first double hat-trick in a match at the 1962 Jakarta Asian Games is still intact.

Dr Tariq Aziz led Pakistan to victory at the 1968 Mexico Olympics.

Manzoor Hussain Jr had won gold in the inaugural junior World Cup at Versilles, France, in 1979, senior World Cup at the Buenos Aires in 1978 and Mumbai in 1981-82, LA Olympics in 1984 as a captain, 1978 and 1980 Champions Trophy. He was part of the 1981 and 1982 Champions Trophy teams where Pakistan finished fourth.

Col Dara earned double colours of British India at the 1936 Berlin Olympics and later represented Pakistan at the London Olympics in 1948 where Pakistan was placed fourth. He also served as the vice-president of the FIH.

Pakistan hockey is incomplete without Atif. He played in four Olympics –1952, 1956, 1960, 1964 and is the only Pakistani icon who had all three Olympic golds in his kitty, 1960 as a player and 1968 and 1984 as manager. He also managed Pakistan team at the Montreal Olympics.

He was also the first Pakistani who had been elected chairman of the FIH Rules Board. He was, indeed, a towering figure of the game.

Nur Khan is the Rene Frank of Pakistan hockey. It was under his presidentship of the PHF that Pakistan won the 1968 and 1984 Olympics, two World Cups 1978, 1981-82 and two Champions’ Trophy in 1978, 1980.

Khawaja Zakauddin had two Olympic and a World Cup gold besides an Olympic silver (1964) under his bag. Zaka, who played at Rome, was coach of the Pakistan team at the LA Olympics. He also coached the Mumbai World Cup goal medal winning team.

Besides, there are many other stalwarts who have won laurels to the nation and can’t be accommodated at one time. It is up to the PHF to draw a line and chalk out criteria for future.

A word of thank is due to the Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah and the Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif for their whole hearted support to the games controlling body.

Conclusion: The domestic hockey needs to be on the right track if the PHF is serious for the uplift of the game. There used to be a number of annual all-Pakistan competitions across the country and the players hardly find time for their families. The Aga Khan Gold Cup, the General Musa Gold Cup, the competitions at Karachi, in Gojra and Khanpur are among others that used to unearth budding players.

Hockey is the national game and needs special treatment from the government. The Chief of Army Staff Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa should step in and issue directives to at least 10 to 15 financial institutions, cellular firms and others to raise hockey teams under Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). Once done, it will give mental relief to players who could then focus solely on the game and help in winning more laurels.

Published in Dawn, January 26th, 2018