It appears as if it was only yesterday when everyone was all fired up to support the Indian National Hockey Team in their venture ( The World Cup ). And today , when things didn’t turn out to be quite as well as planned , everything has backfired . People are even saying that this is exactly the reason why hockey is treated the way it is in India .

Certainly , it was an aberration to see everyone so pumped up for the World Cup ( that of hockey and not of cricket ) . The initiative that Hero Honda took was appreciable ( being the sponsors they had to ) . Indians were fantastic in their first match against the arch rivals . They literally crushed them on their way to the victory . But then came the bad patch . To start with, Indian forward Shivendra Singh was suspended for three matches ( which was later reduced to two ) . The incident itself was enough to put the dressing room’s mood off . And then came the series of defeat in the next three games , which meant they were ousted from the competition . In the end too , they had to be content with a mere draw against the Proteas .

Every cloud has a silver lining . Atleast we didn’t end up at the bottom ( and moreover , we were ahead of Pakistan ) . India was never considered a runner for the trophy , even a place in the semis was a big ask . And now when the curtains are finally down , everyone is suddenly seen debating on the topic >> “Hockey : National Game or National Shame” .

The game which have brought many glories to the country ( long before cricket became a religion ) can never be considered a national shame . Its just going through a rough patch . Remember Cricket World Cup , 1999 ??? India lost all the matches in the super six stage except one . They managed to beat Pakistan there too . And the way they were greeted back at the airport was nothing less than a welcome befitted for the Cup . The scene is somewhat the same this time , but the response is not . Double Standards ???

Anyways , fickleness runs within our blood . If today we are criticizing someone , tomorrow we would be all praise for him . Indian Hockey can now only go up from this stage . We have got nothing to loose , only to win . Cheers