India-Kiwi Test series from today

By S. Thyagarajan

CHENNAI, JUNE 15. Almost a generation has rolled by since India visited New Zealand for a hockey Test series. When the teams come to grips tomorrow at Dunedin in the first of the four Tests, it is difficult to refrain from indulging in a nostalgic introspection of the matches involving the two countries steeped in hockey tradition for a little over 75 years.

New Zealand was the first destination for an Indian Army team in 1926 and that squad included the immortal Dhyan Chand. Much has water flowed down the Tasman since then with competitive hockey acquiring a totally different dimensions. While India retains the sheen as the winner of eight gold medals in Olympics, New Zealand enjoys the unique distinction of taking the gold when hockey entered the era of astro-pitches at Montreal in 1976, a feat that remains only a distant dream for the neighbouring hockey super power, Australia.

Colourful though the history of hockey in New Zealand, it has not been easy to keep the sport afloat amidst intense competition from other disciplines. The women have progressed more significantly ensuring a place in this year's Champions Trophy at Amsterdam after the Sydney Olympiad. Interestingly, a fortnight ago, the Indian women's team played a series in New Zealand, pulling up remarkable victories in the last two games to level at 2-2.

Buoyed by the invitation to be part of the World Cup qualifier at Edinburgh, consequent to the withdrawal of Zimbabawe, the Kiwi squad is bound to pitch in its best to keep the morale high. The induction into the Qualifier has come as a bonanza for the Kiwis, who were peeved by their non-inclusion in the previous list of 16. They even lodged a protest with the Court of Arbitration in Lausanne questioning the qualification norms framed by the International Hockey Federation which favoured Bangladesh from Asia against them. However, wiser counsels prevailed after the FIH Congress in Brussles in April, and New Zealand withdrew its protest.

The news of New Zealand replacing Zimbabwe came when India was touring Malaysia last week. Interestingly, India and New Zealand are lodged in the same group for the Edinburgh venture.

``We won't being showing all our cards in this series and, I am sure, NZ won't, be either,'' remarked Cedric D'Souza, the chief coach for the Indian team which arrived at Christchurch on Thursday. Nothing can be more realistic than what Cedric has observed under the prevailing conditions. Cedric was asked while in Malaysia whether he would be interested in the series against New Zealand after coming to know that the teams are in the same group. Cedric however feels that the ``tour is important for the development of Indian hockey.'' He views the visit as an experience for the 21 players, among whom not less than 10 are eligible for the Junior World Cup at Hobart.

Quite predictably, New Zealand, under the energetic coach, Kevin Towns, has fielded the most experienced combination which will also prepare for the World Cup qualifier. India has reached New Zealand after a four Test series against Malaysia where it won the first Test at Ipoh and drew the rest. In Australia, at Perth, the Indians won one and lost one of the two matches played against the Australian Institute of Sports.

At Dunedin, India will not only have to contend with a confident Kiwi team but cold weather as well. Records reveal that Kevin Towns, the present coach, had played in two of the Tests, when India visited New Zealand in 1975 with the tag as the World Champion. Interestingly, the next year New Zealand won the Olympics with Ramesh Patel, currently Chief Executive of the NZHF. Ramesh Patel did not play then against India, busy as he was with his university examinations.

India plays the first Test tomorrow at Dunedin, the second at Ashburton on June 18, third at Wellington on June 21 and the last at Auckland on June 23.

Teams: New Zealand: Micheal Bevin, Paul Woolford, Brett Leaver, Dean Couzins, Dion Gosling, Blair Hopping, Simon Towns, Wayne McInde, Hymie Gill, Dharmesh Puna, Darren Smith, Ryan Archibald, Mitesh Patel, Umesh Parag, Phil Burrows, Bevan Hari and David Kasoof.

India: Jude Menezes, Devesh Chauhan, Dinesh Nayak, Dilip Tirkey, Lazarus Barla, Baljit Singh Saini, Kanwalpreet Singh, M.K.Prakash, Thirumalvalavan, Radhakrishnan, Arjun Halappa, Sukhbir Singh Gill, Bipin Fernandez, Jagan Senthil, Inderjeet Singh, Daljit Singh Dhillon, Baljit Singh Dhillon (capt), Gagan Ajit Singh, Deepak Thakur, Prabhjot Singh and Tejbir Singh.

Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Section  : Sport
Previous : Committed towards the development of hockey
Next     : Six Speed shows her class