With all due respect to Harbhajan Singh, Indian sport was weeded of one of its most controversial personas yesterday with the forcible removal of Mr. KPS Gill, as the president of the IHF. The past few weeks have seen much action on the 'Hockey Gate' (calling everything a 'gate' seems to be the fashion these days) saga. First, the IHF Secretary K Jothikumaran was caught red handed on tape in a sting operation by Headlines Today, accepting a bribe to ensure selection of players for last years Sultan Azlan Shah trophy. As rediff reported,

The channel claimed that after receiving cash payment of Rs two lakh and taking a promise of another Rs three lakh to be given to his man in Delhi, Jothikumaran assured the channel's team of getting a player picked for the senior hockey team for the Azlan Shah hockey tournament next month.

Truth be told, the patience with the Indian Hockey establishment had worn thin, after India failed to reach the Olympics for the first time ever, but the IHF president was as nonchalant as ever, even taking on the Union Sports Minister

The minister did make a reference to Jothikumaran saying the public's faith in him had been "shattered", but indicated that KPS was equally at fault for the mess Indian hockey was in. His advice to KPS was simple: "I believe, in the totality of the situation, the IHF president must introspect, and review his position. In consideration of the situation facing Indian hockey, I urge him to consider withdrawing from his responsibility. It is time to let other Indians make an attempt to lift our hockey," he said.
KPS Gill, typically, laughed away the minister's suggestion and said there was no problem with the selection process. asked about the minister's remarks and whether he thought that the entire IHF executive committee should take moral responsibility and resign, as Jothikumaran (secretary-general from 1994 and KPS's right-hand man) was an integral part of it, Gill said: "If that is the case then the entire government should resign (if a member of it faces any allegation)."

It was however left to the FIH to read the riot act to the petulant supremo of the IHF, and sent a stern missive through the IOA, warning them to get their act together or lose the rights to the 2010 World Cup.

Expressing dismay at the state of Indian hockey just a day before an IOA meeting to discuss the bribe scandal involving suspended IHF secretary K Jothikumaran, FIH chief Els van Breda Vriesman said the world body can't work with a federation whose top official was under investigation following a TV sting operation.

"It (the sting operation) is never heard of in the world of field hockey. I wish the Indian hockey got positive publicity and not this kind. We are in touch with both International Olympic committee and the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) how to proceed in such situation," she told PTI.

"Now the IOA has to manage Indian Hockey Confederation because I don't think we can work with a half-suspended Secretary General (K Jothikumaran) and a president probably linked because he protects his secretary in this case," she added. "The agenda before the Indian table is clear. But who is going to take the decisions. It is up to the Indian Olympic Association and the Sports ministry to handle the situation; it is not up to us.

Reacting swiftly, the IOA yesterday in an hurriedly convened meeting , suspended the IHF, effectively sacking Mr. Gill and introduced an interim committee, consisting of erstwhile hockey players to run the show.

While the exit of the president of IHF and his team, is indeed a welcome step, Mr. Kalmadi would do well to ensure that things do not end up in chaos. As Iraq and Pakistan have shown that while dictatorship might be a bad thing, a power vacuum can be devastating.

And as I was checking for references, this piece from Hindustan Times on Women's hockey that I also check on every now and then, bringing not much good news either.

At least 11 players of the 18-member squad that finished a depressing fourth at the Olympic qualifiers in Kazan (Russia) on Sunday were carrying injuries. In fact, most members of the squad that failed to qualify for the Olympics were considered unfit to play an international-level event.

Interestingly, both the government and the hockey federation were aware of this and still sent them to the prestigious April 19-25 tournament.

Mentioning captain Mamta Kharab, Sabha Anjum, Ritu Rani, Rajwinder Kaur and Deepika Murthy by name, it states: "All the above girls are in the list of 18 players. I don't know how they will cope up with the fitness of other players when fitness is the prime tactics of winning. Senior players should set up an example for juniors in training."

While IWHF president Vidya Stokes was in New Delhi but not contactable (we were told she also did not have a mobile phone), repeated attempts to speak to Union Sports Secretary SK Arora were stonewalled by his office. Finally, HT was told that he would not be available on the day, despite the seriousness of the issue being explained to them.

Dont put away the weed-cutter just yet.

First Posted at Prem Panicker’s on April 29, 2008.

Officially, the five rings of the Olympics stand for the five contintents, but in India it could very well mean the five tiers of security that was in place for the Indian leg of the Olympic Torch Relay. Some of the norms, were infact almost that for those of a visiting head of state. From IBNLive.

The Government on Wednesday issued an advisory for the relay on Rajpath, points of which are bizarre to say the least. Windows and doors of all buildings facing Rajpath will be closed from 1300 hrs IST onwards. No visitors will be allowed to enter government buildings overlooking Rajpath after 1300 hrs IST. Visitors cannot leave the buildings after 1300 hrs IST until the relay gets over.

Only government employees with identity cards will be allowed to access these buildings or leave these buildings. Only from military, police and security personnel will be allowed access to rooftops and balconies near Rajpath. Fire safety checks will be carried on all buildings on the route and incinerators will be banned for duration of the rally. Nobody will be allowed to assemble on the lawns of North Block and South Block.

Of course, when you put such restrictions on arterial highways on a working day in Delhi, the result is sheer chaos and pain for the common man.The Hindustan Times reports,

With a staggering 17,000 policemen and commandos swarming the heart of New Delhi, the torch completed its 2.3 km journey down Rajpath that had been sanitized from even the somnolent babus of the many sarkari buildings around. The police's paranoiac zeal brought the capital to its knees, forced the early closure of offices, put helpless citizens through enormous trials, and resulted in tremendous suffering for children, the elderly, and ill.

Thousands of commuters were stuck for many hours in endless traffic jams caused by blockades that were put up in central and south Delhi after 2 pm. The effect cascaded to other parts of the capital, and caused traffic hold-ups that lasted well past 10 pm. A terminally ill patient, 38-year-old Rupesh Jain, walked all the way from Sunder Nagar to Hotel Claridges since no public transport was available. "No cab was willing to go anywhere in Lutyens's Delhi," he told a Hindustan Times journalist who was also walking to our office in Connaught Place.

People heading towards the international and domestic airports were stuck for more than three hours due to congestion on NH-8. Several passengers missed their flights, as did people trying to reach New Delhi railway station.

While, one hand I am happy that the event passed off without any incident and loss of life or limb, I am equally aghast at the amount of money and time invested in such an event which finally was closed to all public!  Of course, the Chinese are happy. The official site of the Olympic Games reports,

The torch that had arrived in New Delhi on the early Thursday morning, was greeted by schoolchildren who had lined up alongside the Rajpath, waving the Indian and Chinese flags.

Did we really need a show of this sort? What exactly did we achieve?

First Posted at Prem Panicker’s on April 18, 2008.

 The chances that an Indian could play in the Baseball leagues in the US would probably be next to zero, but thanks to the Indian leg of 'The Million dollar Arm', the son of a UP truck driver and village 'loafer' Rinku Singh might just do that. He chanced his arm and threw down a 140 kmph sizzler in the contest to pocket Rs. 40,00,000 and book a spot on a flight to San Francisco where he, along with other regional winners will be trained for a year and then potentially be drafted by one of the 30 or so teams. The Indian Express reports:

They are not exactly sure what baseball is, or even javelin for that matter. However, in and around Rinku Singh's village Holepur in Bhadohi, the news of his $100,000 throw ? catapulting him to San Francisco ? has reached fast. Celebrations are on in right earnest since Rinku was announced the winner of the India leg of the 'Million Dollar Arm' contest in Mumbai on Sunday.

I still dont believe this to be completely true, but in what could be a dream come true for millions of football fans across India the Bundesliga champion team Bayern Munich will take on domestic football club Mohun Bagan at the Salt Lake Stadium in Kolkatta later this year. Sify reports:

International football stars, including Brazilians Lucio and Ze Roberto, Germany striker Miroslav Klose and French forward Frank Ribery are expected to be part of the Bayern contingent.

This match will also be the last match for talismanic German goalkeeper Oliver Kahn, to cap off a glorious career. Quoting Deccan Chronicle, this is what he had to say - Although the Golden Ball winner of the World Cup 2002 never thought of "playing his farewell match elsewhere", the prospect of playing in Kolkata does excite him immensely.

"I have no regrets over not playing my last professional match at the Allianz Arena. Rather, I'm quite thrilled to play in the second largest stadium in the world. I've played in the past in front of 100,000 people, but never before in front of 125,000," the legendary net-minder was quoted as saying on video footage from Munich at a press meet organised by Bengal Peerless here on Wednesday. "

However details are still sketchy, with the Statesman already pouring some cold water on my enthusiasm.

First Posted at Prem Panicker’s on March 20, 2008.

 The 2008 season of the Formula 1 Grand Prix starts with this weekend's Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne albeit in slightly unusual circumstances with all driving aids removed and as usual the scarlet cars from Italy are the firm favourites with both the 2008 car and 2008 champion Kimi Raikkonen seemingly getting better during the off season. Added to that, in what could be a problem of plenty, their number 2 driver Felipe Massa is anything but that and is well nigh capable of claiming the top step of a few podiums himself. It will indeed take some racing to prevent the team from Maranello to the title.

For McLaren, you might say last year was Shakespearean ' the best of times, the worst of times ' with the reigning World Champion, the hottest rookie driver in the midst of a dream debut and an increasingly competitive and at times the best car the team started out with a bang and led the Driver's and Constructors titles for a long time before ending in a whimper in the much publicised Alonso ' Hamilton spat and the infamous 'Spygate' scandal to finish with 0 points. This year sees McLaren in a strong position to challenge Ferrrari with Hamilton going on to be the numero uno driver in only his second year and accompanied by another ambitious youngster Heikki Kovalainen and the new MP4-23 chassis setting the early pace this season.

The Middle Tier will be led by the two-time World Champion Fernando Alonso returning this year to his old stable at Renault. While Renault is predicted to be off-pace from the top-two with Fernando it would be more of a challenge for podium positions along with other contenders like BMW, Williams and Red Bull. Red Bulls driver Mark Webber is a local and will enjoy tremendous crowd support in his home Grand Prix.

The Top Half of the bottom rung are two teams which are in unfamiliar territory, the two Japanese teams of Toyota and Honda with a strong pedigree of passenger cars and deep pockets should have moved up by now, but after a forgettable season in 2007, will be trying hard to make it to the chasing pack.

Which brings us to sentimental local favourite Force India, looking to start off where it left as Spyker. Manned by one of the most experienced drivers in Fisichella who was champion in Australia and Adrian Sutil and Mike Gascoyne looking up the montiors in the pit lane, Force India has a reasonable roster. A tribute to Vijay Mallya's reputation is that amongst F1 fans it is already spoken of as a serious middle level competitor even before its first race. For a quick reality check however Mr. Mallya will just have to look in front of him on the racing grid to see the Toyotas, Hondas and BMWs who with superior experience and long years of testing and racing are still middling teams to realize what he is up against. But he should also be able to see the Super Aguri team in his rear view mirrors and hope that one day it will be a Ferrari or a McLaren there.

First Posted at Prem Panicker’s on March 14, 2008.

Much like the Dream Team lined up by the USA in Basketball the past decade, there used to be a time when Indian hockey players lined up for a Gold Medal at every Olympics. Starting from 1928, for 36 years, the Indian Team won every Olympic Men's hockey gold medal except one where they finished second. Led by that great wizard Dhyan Chand, India introduced the Indian Dribble to mesmerise opposing defences world over. To refresh our pedigree, some excerpts from Dhyan Chand's profile, from Rohit Brijnath.

Dhyan Chand captained the Indian team in 1936 Summer Olympics final. His team had gone down to the Germans in a friendly match, shortly before the Olympics. But this time, India's forward line was reinforced by the inclusion of Ali Iqtidar Shah Dara, who managed to reach Berlin just in time for the final.

In a patriotic note, they raised the Indian tricolour in the dressing room and sang Vande Mataram an Indian nationalist song, rather than the British national anthem, which they were obliged to sing.

Indians were leading 1-0 at the half time. In second half, they scored 7 goals. After trailing 0-6, the Germans are reported to have resorted to body play. In a clash with the German goalkeeper, Dhyan Chand broke one of his teeth. But the valiant Rajput returned to the field after first aid. When the match ended, his contribution in India's 8-1 win was 6 goals.

The match was attended by Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler who left midway as he couldn't bear to see his "racially superior" team being demolished. Sensing something amiss, he was ordered to change his stick, but the flow of goals continued. India won the match 8-1, with Dhyan Chand scoring 6 goals. A reporter said about Dhyan Chand's performance - "With a flick of the wrist, a quick glance of his eyes, a sharp turn and then another turn, and Dhyan Chand was through".

Adolf Hitler left his special box in a huff, after Germany's rout. Next day, he invited him for a meeting the following day. Hitler asked Dhyan Chand what post did he hold in India. On learning that the hockey wizard was a mere Naik in the Indian army, Hitler offered to make Dhyan Chand a Field marshal should he decide to live in Germany. Dhyan Chand politely refused, saying that he had a large family to look after, in India

Dhyan Chand won a number of awards and accolades during his illustrious career. One of the most touching gestures came from the residents of Vienna, who built a statue of the Indian with four hands and four sticks, signifying his unparallel control over the ball. During a 1935 tour of New Zealand and Australia, he scored 201 goals out of the team's tally of 584 in 43 matches. Don Bradman and Dhyan Chand once came face to face at Adelaide in 1935, when the Indian hockey team was in Australia. After watching Dhyan Chand in action, Don Bradman remarked "He scores goals like runs in Cricket" and it is a measure of this man's innocence that he writes, "The picture of that meeting I will cherish all my life."

They say you can judge a man's legend by the quality of myths that surround him. By that measure itself, Dhyan Chand was an extraordinary man. To hear tales of his craftsmanship was to wonder whether his stick was designed by Merlin himself. They broke his stick in Holland to check if there was a magnet inside; in Japan they decided it was glue; in Germany, Adolf Hitler even wanted to buy it.

Today, forget winning the Gold at Olympics, forget winning a medal in the Asian Games, we cannot even win a qualifying tournament, getting knocked out by 2 goals in 10 minutes to be ousted from the Olympics for the first time since Independence. The coach Joaquim and his support staff promptly resigned, Dhanraj and his fellow brethren felt like there was a death in the family, but KPS Gill, Nero-like, apparently needs more time.

Cry, my beloved country

UPDATE: From IBNLive, Indian Hockey Federation's Vice-President Narendra Batra has accepted responsibility for the loss.  "I personally take the blame because I have not been able to do anything for hockey," said Batra. But he went on to lay the blame on K P S Gill and said the team is literally picked by Gill's security officer.

"Mr K P S Gill is hardly in Delhi, he is in Mathura most of the time. The team is actually being selected by Mr Suresh Sharma, who is the security officer for Mr K P S Gill," he stated. Batra absolved K Jothikumaran of blame, saying that the IHF Secretary and Gill were not even on talking terms.He said that the rot started at the very top and declared that the IHF never took hockey seriously.

"The selection committee is a farce - it's on paper only. No selections are done. Eight or 10 people come on merit and balance - two from you, two from me, two from other people - that is how the teams are selected nowadays" Batra revealed. "I feel that government takes over this hockey federation and run it through good sportsmen, who are above board, and some administrators from the government's side, and take it over for the next 10 years to get hockey back on track."

First Posted at Prem Panicker’s on March 10, 2008.