The just-concluded IPL might have kept millions of Indians spellbound but Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is not one of them.

Making an emotional appeal for the revival of hockey in the country, Manmohan Singh today admitted he was not a big cricket fan and would prefer to see more people playing hockey or football. “I want to say that I am not a great fan of cricket. But it is not a disrespect to the world of cricket. In my school, there was hockey and I do believe that to the ordinary people of our country, games like hockey and football have far greater significance than the world of cricket,” the Prime Minister said at a function to release Golden Yardstick: In Quest of Hockey Excellence, written by former India captain Balbir Singh Sr.

He went on to urge Sports Minister MS Gill “to do all he can” to bring back the glorious days of Indian hockey. “Indian hockey has seen better days. It has produced inspiring players, inspiriting coaches, inspiring captains. We have to recapture that spirit of adventure which will associate with legendary figures like Sardar Balbir Singh,” the Prime Minister said.

“I sincerely hope that our Sports Minister will recognise the importance of hockey as the national game. I would urge him to do all he can on behalf of the Government to rewrite the history of hockey in the country, to write another glorious chapter this country is certainly entitled to,” he said.

The Prime Minister’s comments come in the wake India’s humiliating failure earlier this year to qualify for the Beijing Olympics.

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