India had never won the hockey World Cup till then, and were down a goal with Mohammed Saeed having scored for Pakistan in the 18th minute. Thereafter, as Balbir Singh, the manager, recounted, “It was one of the best displays of hockey by the Indian team and they came from behind to beat Pakistan 2-1.” It was India’s first World Cup win, and till date, the only one. It was also the first time the tournament was staged in Asia, and the final was witnessed by a crowd of over 50,000 at the Merdeka stadium.
While it would have great to know the team talk at half time, suffice to say that India equalised in the 44th minute through a penalty corner strike by Surjeet Singh. The next few minutes of the game were “intense” with India pushing for the decisive goal. Eventually, it was Harcharan Singh who set up the attack, and when Victor Phillips passed the ball to Ashok Kumar, he netted it from a distance with a powerful strike. Pakistan protested against the goal but the referee was unmoved.
For the record, India had come close in the second edition as well, but eventually it was the Netherlands, the hosts, who edged out India on penalties to lift the second World Cup after Pakistan had won the inaugural edition in 1971.
Believe it or not, the 16 members of the victorious Indian team were presented with scooters for their feat by the Government of UP. This was communicated to the manager Balbir Singh by the Sports Director of the Government of UP, the legendary Olympian KD Singh Babu. The presentation eventually happened after an exhibition match was staged in the state to celebrate the team.
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Indian Railways too celebrated the victory, and the five players in the team employed by the Railways were presented with cash awards of 3000 rupees each by the Railways minister Shri Mohammed Shafi Qureshi. Initially, the amount decided was 2000 but it was eventually raised to 3000 per person.
The significance of the victory, however, went far beyond these cash awards and rewards. India hadn’t won anything since the bronze at the 1968 Mexico Olympics and the 1971 World Cup and 1972 Olympic campaign ended in failure. While the second World Cup experience was good, the team faltered in the final and the mission was left unfinished. In that sense, 1975 was massive. It could easily be compared with an Olympics medal win, and yet again pushed Indian hockey to the top of the pedestal.
Parliament too celebrated the victory with Lok Sabha speaker GS Dhillon making a special mention of the sacrifices made by the coach and the family members of each player. The prime minister met the team on their arrival in India, and it was indeed a victory that had got the country together.
With India winning back-to-back Olympic medals in 2021 and 2024 and with Hockey India making a bold declaration at the Trailblazers conclave last week that they will leave no stone unturned to see the team back on the podium in the World Cup in Belgium next year, there is much hope and optimism surrounding the sport. The celebrations in Delhi this evening to honour the 1975 team will be a fitting recognition of the achievement, and can only inspire players to aim for the pinnacle in the future.
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