The Major Dhyan Chand Stadium is getting a facelift ahead of the IND-GER hockey series
It once chronicled the epic fall of Mir Ranjan Negi, the artistic stick work of Dhanraj Pillay and the muscular drag moves of Sandeep Singh, but over the past decade the Major Dhyan Chand National Stadium has seemed to resign itself to the fact that its glory days as epicenter of Indian hockey was a thing of the past.
The two-match Test series against Germany on October 23 and 24 looks to be the revival of Delhi’s hockey spirit, which has been dormant for the past decade.
Click here to contact us via WhatsApp
The Odisha government’s landmark decision to help Indian hockey find its home in Bhubaneswar and Rourkela was a major factor in the shift in momentum, which could turn around again if the fans show up.
Hockey India president Dilip Tirkey is hoping for a good turnout given the growing popularity of hockey after two consecutive Olympic bronze medals.
“Previous domestic tournaments were held in Delhi in a very spectacular manner. I too made my international debut in Delhi through the Indira Gandhi Gold Cup 1995. A large number of spectators used to come here and we also want the glory of hockey to return to Delhi” , Tirkey told PTI Bhasha.
“After the Olympic Games in Tokyo and Paris, the popularity of hockey has increased enormously and now the stadium will be waiting for the spectators,” said the legendary former defender.
The last international match played here was the 2014 Hero World League Final. Interdepartmental institutional hockey was also held here occasionally.
“I was an official here during the 2010 World Cup and people from all over the country came here to watch the match. It was a different atmosphere,” said Ajay Kumar Bansal, former coach of the Indian junior and women’s hockey team and ex-administrator. of the National Stadium.
“In the past few years, hockey was being played in Odisha, due to which the graph of the game there went up and on the contrary, due to the absence of hockey in Delhi, it went down. The youth did not see major hockey matches.” tournament here, so automatically their interest decreased,” he said.
“Apart from this, due to the lack of tournaments, the maintenance of the stadium will also have an impact. I want four or five venues including Delhi, Punjab and Haryana to be included in the Hockey India League from next time.”
India’s former World Cup winner Ajitpal Singh believes that matches involving big teams should be played in all hockey regions of India.
“After many years, an international match is taking place in Delhi. Earlier, many ‘Test’ matches were held at Shivaji Stadium. I think it is important to organize matches and tournaments across the country, instead of staging them centralize,” says the former skipper. said.
“There are many hockey areas in India, as many excellent players have emerged from Punjab, Haryana, UP, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu. Hockey is very popular in Odisha and Jharkhand, but it is important to organize major matches in other states as well,” he added.
Detailing the preparations, officials said that cleaning of astro-turf on the main field and practice fields has been going on for a week with German machines and the process has been completed. Every year, Rs 30 lakh is spent on the maintenance of both the turfs.
They said the spectator galleries, locker rooms, dressing rooms and the entire complex have been cleaned. They also said there is no need for an upgrade as this is a world-class stadium that has hosted the World Cup and Commonwealth Games.
The stadium also houses a hockey academy of the Sports Authority of India’s National Center of Excellence, where practices are held regularly.
In addition, as part of SAI’s ‘Come and Play’ scheme, some children come to play hockey and are very enthusiastic about these matches.
When India defeated arch-rivals Pakistan at the World Cup and Commonwealth Games on this ground in 2010, a flood of emotions flooded the packed stadium.
The National Stadium (formerly known as Irwin Amphitheatre), donated to Delhi by the Maharaja of Bhavnagar, witnessed the first Asian Games in 1951 and the players cried after losing to Pakistan in the hockey final of the 1982 Asian Games.
At the same ground, Australia defeated hosts India in the 2010 Commonwealth Games final 8–0, one of their worst ever defeats.
(Only the headline and image of this report may have been reworked by Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is automatically generated from a syndicated feed.)
First publication: October 10, 2024 | 7:48 PM IST