Time for India to win hockey World Cup gold again: Ashok Kumar

New Delhi: World Cup-winning striker Ashok Kumar, son of the legendary Major Dhyan Chand, on Tuesday said it is high time India reclaimed hockey’s top prize to commemorate the golden jubilee of its historic 1975 World Cup victory.

Fifty years ago, on March 15, India won their first and only hockey World Cup in Kuala Lumpur under the captaincy of Ajitpal Singh with Kumar scoring the winning goal. Kumar, 75, feels Indian hockey is back to its best after two back-to-back bronze medal wins in the Olympics (Tokyo and Paris).

“It was different when we used to play hockey. We played on natural grass but now the game is played on astro-turf. So the dynamics have changed but the skill set remains the same,” Kumar said during a book launch function to celebrate 50 years of India’s World Cup-winning feat. “After 1980, our last and eighth gold medal in the Olympics, the game changed drastically when astro-turf was introduced.” Titled ‘March to Glory: The Story of India’s 1975 World Cup Triumph’, the book was co-authored by hockey historian K Arumugam and veteran journalist Errol D’Cruz.

“In 1990s and 2000s we had some very good players who kept the game alive although we continued to adjust to astro-turf. But now we have back-to-back Olympic bronze medals, we are also domination Asian hockey,” Kumar said.

“So it would be fitting id we can celebrate the 50 years of the only world title by winning the crown again next year.”

The next men’s World Cup will be jointly held in Wavre, Belgium and Amstelveen, Netherlands from August 14 to 30, 2026. Besides the only gold, Kumar was also part of India’s bronze and silver medal winning teams in 1971 and 1973 World Cups. He had also won a bronze medal in the 1972 Munich Olympics.