Hockey heroes absent but thousands cheer Bollywood stars’ hockey act

The Indian hockey team pulled out from the Pride of India Cup,a charity tournament,after a controversy erupted at the eleventh hour,

“I was looking forward to see the match,as I wanted to cheer the Indian hockey team before the world cup. But in the evening,I came to know about the controversy. How can the team concentrate on matches when such controversies keep surfacing?” Ashu,an engineering student,said.

Like Ashu,hundreds had come to see the Indian team in action.

“As the Premier Hockey League (PHL) has not taken place for two years,the match would have brought back some memories,” Former Punjab woman hockey captain Rajinder said. “But I was disappointed with the withdrawal of the Indian team.”

The team pulled out after organisers of the charity match,AMR Foundation,claimed that the players had demanded Rs 5 crore to play the matches.

The allegation was denied by Prabhjot Singh,Rajpal Singh and Deepak Thaukar.

But the controversy could not dampen the spirit of the fans,who had turned out in huge numbers at the Sector-42 hockey stadium to see Bollywood stars slug it out with the R India team.

“It was good to see Shanwar Ali,Zulfi Sayed and Chak de India girl Tanya in action. I also called my friends to enjoy the match,” Divya,a student of Panjab University,said.

Amid cheers of a 3,000-strong crowd,the Boxy Boys and the R India team took the field.

During the match,Tanya stole the show,as she was the only female player in the Boxy Boys team. “She played very well today,” 12-year-old Neha Verma said.

Despite a couple of chances to score,R India lost the match 4-5 to Boxy Boys.

This,however,did not go down well with some hockey enthusiasts.

“It was all staged. The R India players were simply allowing the stars to score. It was apparent from the very beginning. As soon as the first goal was scored,I decided not to watch the match,” Sandeep,a college student said.