The spirit of the bhangra was revived when a group of youngsters trooped out of the Indira Gandhi International Airport lobby in Delhi in the wee hours of a September morning, and danced with gay abandon to beat of the dhol. There was no jostling, no autograph hunters; just a few officials with garlands and smiling onlookers as the new heroes revelled in the warm, earthy reception. That was the joyful face of the team of 1997 the Indian junior hockey team, back from a successful World Cup hunting in Milton Keynes, England.
The Baljit Singh Saini-led squad was not even given a chance to work its way through the league stage, but the disciplined boys showed tremendous fighting spirit to march into the final and into the hearts of hundreds of expatriates who thronged the stadium to cheer them on.
The hallmark of the Indians' performance was the never-say-die spirit, discipline on and off the turf, and cohesion.
The team displayed a flair for skilful hockey, and a penchant for attack. Forward Rajiv
Mishra was the most outstanding of the lot, and managed to knock in 10 goals, even after being tightly marked throughout the tournament. But it was not individual skills, but team effort that propelled the boys to their first ever entry into the final.
Their performance even prompted Netherlands coach Ronalt Oltmans to accept that it was a ``different Indian team altogether -- with a lot of punch and attitude''. The youngsters succeeded in giving an impetus to a game that seems to have stagnated over the years.
The Star Team
Goalkeepers: Teja Singh, Jagdish Ponappa Defenders: Dilip Tirkey, Lazarus Barla, Gurmail Singh Midfielders: Baljit Singh Saini, Baljit Singh Chandi, Anwar Khan, Navsher Singh Forwards: Harbhajan Singh, Rajiv Mishra, Samir Dad, Virender Singh, Yoginder Singh Rawat, Rajesh Chauhan, S Senthilnathan Coaches; Vasudevan Baskaran, Parmesvaran Manager: Niranjan Reddy
Copyright © 1997 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.
