Hockey is India's national game. Still the story of how badly India has deteriorated in hockey is a very sad one indeed. India which won the admiration of the world by winning a record consecutive six golds in Hockey at Olympics from 1928 to 1956, following it up with another two golds in 1964 and 1980, merely qualified in Men's Hockey at 2012 London Olympics after a long 8 years gap! Adding fuel to the fire, it finished last.
Similar stories plague almost every other team sport in India (exceptions like Kabaddi exist, which is a sub-continental sport). India's Cricket craziness/obsession has zapped out all performance from most other sports.
And what about Football? That lovely team game played by 209 countries all over the world and having far more spectators than Cricket or indeed any other sport in the world?!
Don't even ask!
Yes- 1.2 billion people, enough grounds to kick a football around (though decreasing now especially around cities due to encroachments), least infrastructure needed for this most common team sport- yet our Indian Football Team ranks 152 amongst 209 countries in FIFA rankings of March 2014!
And that's men's football.
Indian women's football team hovers around a much better 50th rank out of 130 countries. That's why they can teach the men's team some good lessons inspite of all the difficulties they undergo to pursue their dream.
