– Boria Majumdar
412 international caps for India. One of the best to have played the sport, Dilip Tirkey is all excited with the Hockey World Cup on home soil. What’s his vision for Hockey India and the world cup? What does he want to do different? Here’s the newly elected President in a candid conversation with Boria Majumdar as part of Backstage With Boria.
Boria- The world cup is on us. First thoughts?
Dilip– Hockey is the sport that has taught us the art of winning Olympic medals. We were known for our hockey. To win that many gold medals at the Olympics shows the pedigree we have. And with Tokyo there has been a resurgence. People have started to follow hockey, consume hockey and enjoy hockey. The women too did extremely well and overall there has been some serious work done last few months. I am sure the world cup will help sustain the momentum and showcase the work on the gaps that we had identified.
Boria- You mention gaps. Tell me more.
Dilip– Drag flicks. They are massively important as you know. We have some excellent drag flickers now but we need to ensure we get better and have a plan ahead. Harmanpreet and Rupinder Pal have done superbly well for us and Gurjit has matured over a period of time. But we need to get even better because good drag flickers can win you games. Sandeep and Jugraj both were excellent but then you know what happened to them both and for a period we struggled. Now we have got better again and we must ensure this is sustained. We had a drag flick camp under Bram Lomans and I am sure Harmanpreet and the boys have benefitted from it.
The second aspect that we must focus on is Goalkeeping. Yet again we organised a camp just weeks back. The impact of the goalkeeper in modern hockey is massive. See what Sreejesh has done for the men’s team. And look what Savita has achieved for the women’s team. It is important we focus on goalkeeping to ensure we are ready with the best going forward.
Boria- How are you looking at the world cup?
Dilip– It is a massive tournament for us. A home world cup is always special and very rarely do you have back to back home world cups. If you see the facilities in Odisha, they are superb. We are looking forward to welcoming the world to Odisha and with Covid under control we expect packed houses for most games. All India games are sold out and you will see packed stands. When you have crowd support it automatically gives you a boost and it should be no different for India.
Boria- And what about long term vision.
Dilip- Looking ahead I want to revive the Hockey India League. If you go back and check in time you will see the Hockey India league did wonderfully well for Indian hockey. Our young players got the chance to rub shoulders with the best in the world and as a result they got better in both skill and mental strength. If you are continuously exposed to the best, you will naturally get better. These same players thereafter came into the Indian fold and have made a real difference to the national team. If all goes well I am very keen to revive the Hockey India league for I believe it can leave a significant impact on the future. Having said that I am aware that the international calendar has changed and it is nearly packed. We will try and work out a window for the league.
Boria- In our country we move from one Olympics to another. That’s when the whole country gets behind hockey for example. Any thoughts on Paris 2024. While we start our world cup campaign we will always have an eye on the Olympics.
Dilip- You are absolutely right in saying we are an Olympics obsessed country. And it is certainly one of the most important competitions for us. Like I told you it was hockey which taught us the art of winning Olympic medals. No one can match what India has done in the past. And it is important we continue to do well at the Olympics and sustain the momentum. The women’s team came 4th in Tokyo. They certainly have the potential to make the podium. The men are ranked in the top half of the world and even in the CWG they won the silver. I expect them to do well in the world cup. It will help sustain the momentum. We can certainly win medals in Paris and that will be a major focus of mine.