Exactly fifty years ago, on March 15, 1975, India won the hockey World Cup for the first (and, so far, only) time. Here, Ashok Kumar, who scored the winning goal in the final, tells the story of how a team weighed down by the glories of the past wrote its own name into Indian sports history.
It's 2-0 in the final of the 1973 hockey World Cup in Amsterdam. India, the best team in the tournament, lead the Netherlands with a brace from Surjit Singh Randhawa. It could have been three, but Surjit's would-be hattrick goal was controversially disallowed by Malaysian umpire G. Vijayanathan.
The Dutch, roared on by a now vociferous crowd, soon made the most of the let-off. 2-0 became 2-2 as Ties Kruize scored in quick succession. Then, extra time, which meant three periods of 15 minutes, with the last 15-minute-period 'sudden death' - where golden goal rules applied (score first, win match). It was in that period that a young Indian forward had the chance to win the final, make history. Ashok Kumar's chipped shot hit the goalkeeper on the shoulder and seemed to be rolling towards the empty goal - but was saved off the line. The game went to shootouts, India lost 2-4 and the Dutch took home World Cup Gold.
Ashok Kumar went home with silver, but silver was never going to be enough. A World Cup silver medal and Olympic bronze [from 1972] are respectable - but not when your father is Major Dhyan Chand (3 x Olympic Gold), the greatest hockey player of all time, and your uncle is Captain Roop Singh (2 x Olympic Gold).
"I never had the courage to show my Olympic bronze or World Cup silver medal," Ashok Kumar, now 75, tells ESPN. "In my heart, I was thinking... 'when will I get a chance to show a gold medal to my parents and my uncle?'"
They would get their chance two years later. And fuelling them would be this thought, as Ashok put it: "In 1973, we had the best team, but we lost."
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They worked hard for those two years, coached by Balbir Singh Sr (3 x Olympic Gold) and Gurcharan Singh Bodhi, and with the backing of the Punjab state government.
"[Then Punjab Chief Minister] Giani Zail Singh increased our diet stipend from Rs 25 to Rs 50 and shifted us to the Panjab University ground, which was better suited to train on and play hockey."
This allowed the team to focus on what mattered, even as hundreds would come to see them train every day.
After their final two-month camp in Chandigarh, the team travelled to Singapore for a few practice games before reaching Kuala Lumpur.
The 1975 World Cup was upon them.
"When we were checking in at our hotel, my eyes caught the World Cup trophy which was kept in the hotel lobby. Just 20 yards away. Right then I promised to myself that no matter what, I'd help the team win it."
We weren't to know it then, but the 70s were the end for the all-conquering Indian hockey juggernaut. Other teams were catching up. The Europeans and Australia had developed better training methods and had a systematic approach to the sport -- which wasn't the case in India. And astroturf was looming.
Looking back, Ashok recognizes the significance of it. "In India, there wasn't any system in terms of training and grooming the players. Europe, Australia and New Zealand had a system, which even included classroom sessions. They were getting knowledge from all subjects connected to the sport. We only had one system of playing. From morning till evening."
"Jo khiladi bante the, apne dum par bante the (Whoever became players for the national team, they used to make it on their own willpower). Nobody taught them. Surjit became a penalty corner specialist by himself, nobody taught him."
India, though, were still India. THE team to beat. The other Asians teams were solid contenders too - especially Pakistan, who in Samiullah Khan, Islahuddin and Munawwar uz Zaman had some superstars of the game, and Malaysia with their oodles of talent and vociferous home support.
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The campaign began poorly. First a narrow 2-1 win against England, then 1-1 against Australia, before a big blow, a 2-1 loss to Argentina. That loss hit Ashok particularly hard.
"After the 1973 World Cup, we went to Argentina to play 10-12 test matches. It was a 15-day tour, and they treated us like rockstars. We taught them hockey. They gave me a nickname: 'Piolin', meaning string, because to them it appeared that appeared the ball was attached to [my] stick with a string. They learnt so quickly and they beat us in 1975"
Then they hit form. Ghana were brushed aside 7-0 and West Germany beaten 3-1, and into the semifinals they went. There they faced home team Malaysia.
And it was an epic. Rained out on March 13, the match continued onto the next day, where Malaysia took the lead at 1-0 and then again at 2-1 (Shivaji Pawar with India's goal). Then on came super-sub Aslam Sher Khan. His father Ahmed Sher Khan had been a teammate of Dhyan Chand's at the 1936 Olympics, so Ashok could understand the kind of pressure he was under.
But, with just 12 minutes to go, Aslam converted a penalty corner, and it was 2-2. Harcharan Singh won it in extra time, in the 79th minute.
"The great Surjit chose Aslam Sher Khan to hit the penalty corner. The goal was [so] important."
Semifinal breached; it was time for the final. Against Pakistan.
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The final. India were trailing again. Muhammed Zahid Sheikh opened the scoring for Pakistan and as time wore on the Indians were looking disheartened. Another final heartbreak would be too much.
And then in the 44th minute, Victor Philips found space on the right flank and ran through to win a PC. Govinda pushed it out, Surjit smashed it in. 1-1.
"We got [great] belief from that goal. Now we wanted to play. Our bodies were tired, but [when you score] you forget all that. I don't know how we got the power, but we wanted to give more. We increased our intensity."
Drooping shoulders stiffened, India went all-out. Six minutes later, they won another PC, once again through Philips' enterprising running. Surjit's hit was blocked and went out for a long corner, which Harcharan took. The ball raced to captain Ajit Pal Singh, but he missed the shot. Collecting the ball behind him? Ashok Kumar.
Dodging a defender, Ashok played a one-two off Philips on the right, and from the centre of the D, he leathered it at goal. The shot zoomed in, hit the post on the inside and ricocheted out. Umpire Vijayanathan -- the same official as the '73 final -- gave it immediately, waving away the angry protests of the Pakistan players.
"There's no question about it," Ashok says. "It was a goal. The ball hit the inside of the post and came out. I flicked it inside the goal, using my wrists, it was not a hit."
The final 20 minutes was backs-to-the-wall defending of the highest order. A pumped-up Pakistan rolled in attack after attack, but India held on.
"It was very hard in the last few minutes, but I would give credit to Aslam Sher Khan and our goalkeeper Ashok Diwan. I will say that if not for Aslam Sher Khan's defending, we would have not won the final."
Gold was India's. Gold was Ashok Kumar's. Finally.
�� | A beautiful reception for the @TheHockeyIndia legends of 1975 World Cup, in presence of President, @FIH_Hockey Dr Narinder Dhruv Batra at the Kalinga Stadium.#HWC2018 #Odisha2018 pic.twitter.com/CIT0ZaAXUJ
- Odisha Sports (@sports_odisha) December 1, 2018
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This being India, the celebrations had to be put on hold for a while. Landing in Chennai, then Madras, Customs officials didn't allow the team to carry the World Cup trophy through, because it had elements of gold and silver on it, and only the union government's intervention saw it being cleared.
The team then went on a country-wide tour, displaying the trophy and playing many an exhibition match. Wherever they went, they were treated like royalty.
When Ashok finally came to his hometown Jhansi after 20 odd days, his journey from the railway station to his house, barely 3 kms, took three hours. The whole city was there to welcome him.
For Ashok, though, it was one man's presence that counted the most. The man he could finally show his own gold medal to. "My father never said a single word in praise. He only patted my back three or four times... That was the reward I got from my father."
Dhyan Chand was happy. Ashok Kumar, and India, were world champions. The nation, and hockey's First Family, were Kings of the sport again.
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Fifty years on, to the day, India still wait for a second World Cup gold.