Long before India became a cricketing superpower and ruled the world game, it was hockey where the country ruled the roost at the world level.
Pre and post-independence and until 1980, India was a dominant force in world hockey as they clinched eight Olympic gold medals right until the 1980 Moscow Olympics.
However between all those Olympic gold medals plus the two back-to-back Olympic bronze more recently in Tokyo 2021 and Paris 2024, there is a very significant achievement that India celebrates this year.
It is 50 years of India’s historic hockey World Cup victory in 1975 which till date is the nation’s only World Cup title in the sport.
March 15, 1975 was the D-Day when Ashok Kumar slammed the winner in the 2-1 victory against Pakistan in what was an epic 2-1 final at the Merdeka Football Stadium in Kuala Lumpur.
Under the captaincy of the legendary Ajitpal Singh, India were off to a moderate start with their only defeat in the group stages coming against Argentina where they lost 2-1.
However, sterner tests lay ahead for them and it came against hosts Malaysia, who were backed by a raucous home crowd.
The home side led India 2-1 at half-time and Ajitpal’s men were up against it.
It almost seemed Malaysia were going to pull off an upset but four minutes off the hooter, Aslam Sher Khan turned out to be India’s saviour as he slammed home the equaliser that forced the semifinal into extra time.
It was then Harcharan Singh, who scored the decisive goal that catapulted India into the summit clash against their arch-rivals Pakistan.
Pakistan had made it to the final after crushing Germany 5-1 in an overwhelmingly one-sided game.
Those were the days before colour television and even black and white TV sets were available only in a few very select households.
Perhaps, it was radio commentary that perhaps relayed the news about India’s hair-raising triumph against Pakistan in the final that sent the country into huge celebrations.
The villages and pinds as it’s called in Punjabi from where a majority of Indian players came was a picture of ecstacy as family members and villagers erupted in pure joy.
