A few days after the 50th anniversary of India’s only Hockey World Cup victory in 1975, the legendary Ashok Kumar, man who scored the winning goal against Pakistan in the final, reminisced about that magical day and year in an exclusive interview with The Free Press Journal.
Ashok Kumar, son of the hockey wizard Sir Dhyan Chand, was filled with the intoxicating air of nostalgia recollecting his thoughts from that evening at Merdeka Stadium in Kuala Lumpur where India consigned their arch-rivals to a 2-1 defeat.
Kumar spoke in vivid detail about the winner that sealed the deal for India and sent the country into wild celebrations.
“A long corner was taken by Harcharan Singh and before that there was penalty corner push that had gone off the goalline. The long corner was trapped by skipper Ajitpal Singh and he passed the ball to me and I in turn tapped the ball to Victor Philips after a few dribbles. He then passed it right back to me and I slammed the shot that struck the triangle of the goalpost. As the umpire’s whistle went up, we were in a state of ecstacy,” he added.
The 74-year-old man felt it was a moment that will remain etched in the annals of Indian sport forever and the enormity of the feat was not lost on him even today.
“I’ll always preserve the victory on a personal level and more so it was a great moment for the team. I had scored the goal about seven-eight yards from the goalline, almost from the spot where a penalty corner is taken and I still remember that to this day,’’ he revealed.
Talking about India’s preparations prior to the victorious World Cup winning campaign in 1975, Ashok Kumar explained the team was in great shape.
“We had very good practice sessions before the tournament and before the final, we as a team had nice training sessions too. All the players were in good shape, fitness wise and those were the days when remember all 11 players would play for the whole seventy minutes.”
India’s only disappointment in the campaign was the league stage defeat to a gritty Argentina, where Ashok Kumar was benched after 15-20 minutes of play in his own words.
“Yes, I played for only about 15-20 minutes and thereafter I was pulled out and replaced with another player. We lost that match and then were forced to beat Germany in the next pool match. Coaching was not great at that point of time but technically we were good as players. About four players were competing for one position, I would say,’’ he added.
Giving a glimpse of the era and the challenges they faced, Ashok Kumar spoke about how they used to get paid five dollars a day and were still motivated to play for the country.
“We were getting just five dollars a day but we played for the medal without much expectations.”
The former player recollected the events that transpired when the team landed in Chennai.
“When we reached Chennai airport the trophy was not allowed inside by the Customs officials initially and later after several hours of talks and negotiations it was taken in. We had done some shopping in Singapore where there was a stopover enroute from Kuala Lumpur and our shopped items were confiscated by the Customs officials in Chennai,” he revealed.
“However, once we had settled down we were taken around on the main thoroughfare in Chennai in an open-truck and greeted by the hockey fans and people with so much love and joy.”
The Indian team had a great reception in Delhi also according to Ashok Kumar followed by cities all around the country and apparently they played about 13 exhibition matches across the length and breadth of the nation in the aftermath of the historic World Cup win.
In Mumbai, receptions were organised by the Hindi film superstars of that time including the likes of the legendary showman Raj Kapoor at the Wankhede Stadium.
“Raj Kapoor organised a great reception for us at Wankhede Stadium. Vinod Khanna and Asrani were anchoring the show and it was so amazing to see the love and affection of the people,’’ he added.
