Millennials in India grew up to the ‘folklores’ of their country’s exploits in field hockey under the legends such as Major Dhyan Chand and Balbir Singh, which for the Gen Z was an implausible thought, a ‘fairy tale’.

And rightly so! For the last four decades, eight-time hockey champions—India—showed very little mettle at the pinnacle of sports—the Olympics.

As the sport continued to slip into the abyss, the young journalist in me, sitting in the press box at the Hellinikon Olympic Complex, at the 2004 Athens Olympics, wondered if he would ever witness a resurrection of the sport in India.

India, then, was routed by their arch-rivals Pakistan 3-0, and the Dilip Tirkey-led side with mercurial striker Dhanraj Pillay in the ranks were made to look like lambs.

Pillay, who had managed to breathe some life into Indian hockey with this agile stickwork and had taken India to the Asian Games title in 1998, was the lone wolf amongst the game’s bigwigs.

However, with India finishing a forgettable seventh place, his era was waning, without a Games medal.

In the rival camp, dreaded dragflick specialist Sohail Abbas, with a record 348 international goals, too was signing off in a similar fashion, albeit he could return home with his head held high following his win over India, as Pakistan finished two places above on fifth.

Throughout the sporting showpiece event, Pillay was discontented with the way India’s then German coach Gerhard Rach, who took over just a month before the Games, was making him play.

He felt his prowess was clipped as he was forced to do a lot of off-the-ball running, and it also saw him being benched for most of the contest.

In simple terms, use very little stickwork or carry the ball for long, but hit and run was the ploy Rach opted for.

Pillay felt, he was made to run aimlessly like a ‘madman’, barely ever touching the ball at times. His reluctance was understandable as that’s the hockey he had grown up with and given him the name and fame. Even the purists of the sport loved Indian players’ wristwork while in contrast, modern hockey was speeding towards a ‘powerplay’ format and traditional Indian dribble was not getting them anywhere close to the desired results.

Rach was clearly trying to enforce the European style of play, as the advent of the turf since the 1976 Montreal Games had clearly taken the wind out of the sails of the highly skilled Asian teams.

Although India ended up winning gold in the 1980 Moscow Games, it lacked the sheen of a champion side as most European powerhouses stayed out of the Games, following Russia’s invasion of Afghanistan.

While the Asian teams failed to match the pace and powerplay on turf, they faced an additional setback with the removal of the offside rule. Replacing grass grounds with the newly introduced turfs also meant that most Asian countries struggled with their finances.

The Bombay Hockey Association, in Mumbai, India, that hosted the prestigious Aga Khan tournament and had been a steady supplier of players, too, struggled with a worn-out turf for several years in the late 90s.

Local players were invariably compelled to hone their skills on grass, a futile exercise, and were thus struggling to get the right momentum while on turf.

Nevertheless, the core issue with the Asian teams was their implacable mindset to push forward with the traditional style of play that had yielded results over the years instead of adapting to change.

Many voices within the fraternity were vociferous in their reluctance to splurge money on hiring European coaches. Adding to the woes were lack of sponsorship, coupled with infighting, mismanagement, and power struggle within the Indian Hockey’s governing body, leaving the sport neglected in a country of 1.3 billion, where the sport of cricket, by now, had become a religion.

Stalwarts like Pillay, whose game revolved around individual brilliance, were not ready to shed their own style of play and often fell out with coaches.

Pak legend Abbas, post-Athens’ dismal show, had a different prospective, reflecting on the need of the hour to accept the new way forward.

“What would you do with the clothes that don’t fit?” he questioned, “You throw them away and get a new one, right? It’s time we (Pakistan) and India forget about our own battles and set sights on the future. We are content gaining one up on each other while the teams around the world have moved way ahead of us.”

Abbas was spot on, as the worst was yet to come. India’s biggest setback came at the 2006 Doha Asian Games, when they were routed by China 2-3 and fell out of the podium for the first time in 55 years.

Two years later, they hit another low when they failed to qualify for the Beijing 2008 Olympics.

Fast forward to 2024, and India is now a force. Paris Olympics 2024 bronze medal performance beating Spain 2-1 was a reassurance that India’s similar show in Tokyo was no fluke.

At Tokyo 2020, following a 7-1 rout by Australia, the team bounced back, winning four matches on the trot. They even led against the mighty Belgium in the semis but muffled chances to eventually end up on the losing side. In the bronze medal match against Germany, they overturned a 3-1 deficit to win 5-4.

The Paris success meant that for the first time in 50 years, India has won back-to back medals, a feat last achieved at the 1968 Mexico City and 1972 Munich Olympics.

What also stood out was the way India played ‘fearless’ hockey throughout the Games. The way a 10-man Indian team sealed their semi-berth at Paris against Great Britain speaks volumes of the gap they have breached overtime against the European teams.

What would have been curtains for most teams, skipper Harmanpreet Singh’s warriors remained resolute and held their fort well till the final overtime to force the match into a shootout after being tied at 1-1.

Veteran star goalkeeper PR Sreejesh, in his final international tournament, delivered a series of crucial saves to see India to semis against World Champions Germany.

If it was defensive masterclass against the GB, South African Craig Fulton’s team was at their attacking best against the mighty Australia earlier, vis-à-vis a forgettable record they held against the Kookaburras.

Riding on Singh's brace and Sreejesh’s brilliance saw India shock Australia 3-2 in that final group game, thus ending a 52-year wait for a win over Australia in the Olympics.

Earlier in April 2024, when the team had travelled to Australia for a five-match series in the International Festival of Hockey, the visitors were thrashed 5-0. However, coach Fulton had salvaged plenty from that tournament preceding Paris 2024. He knew very well the only way the Aussies could be beaten in their own game was by emulating their aggressive style of play.

The World Champions Germany’s approach in the semis was akin to blitzkrieg - surprise attack using a rapid and overwhelming force.

India matched them in every department. An early lead was a must, and it came in the seventh minute, but the Germans rallied themselves quickly, and the World No. 2 bounced back to seal their final berth with a 3-2 win.

Thus, dashing India’s hopes of Olympics men’s hockey final for the first time since 1980 Moscow.

It was a hard pill to swallow but in less than 24 hours, the way India pulled themselves together and came from a goal down to beat Spain 2-1 to clinch bronze was indeed commendable, asserting their rise.

India still remains the most successful country in Olympic hockey history, with a staggering eight golds, one silver, and four bronze medals.

Back-to-back finishes at the Games are a huge stimulus for Hockey India, and they would be now keen to build on this renewed vigour.

The revival of Hockey India League (HIL) after a seven-year hiatus will also be another significant step forward. One can hope that the Games success will draw in more sponsors to the sport.

Having said that, Hockey India will need to ensure that the HIL will not face a similar setback it faced in 2017. The team owners had then claimed heavy financial losses forcing them to pull the plug.

The new chapter will also feature women’s action that could put things back on track for the Indian women’s team, having missed the bus for Paris after finishing with an impressive fourth place in Tokyo.

On hindsight, credit for Indian hockey’s revival goes to the government of the Indian state of Odisha, whose support under the leadership of former Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik since 2018, as the official sponsor helped turn around things drastically.

The state is now regarded as the hockey capital of India and has invested ₹120 crore (approximately US$14 million). The deal has now been extended by another ten years, ensuring a steady flow of funds until 2033.

The present Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi has also jumped on the bandwagon to further support till 2036.

The state also now has a state-of-the-art 20,000-seater Birsa Munda International Hockey Stadium in Rourkela, the biggest in the world.

On the team front, the immediate challenge will be to find a suitable replacement for Sreejesh, who had already announced his retirement following the high. Though Krishan Pathak has been sharing his duties for a while, these are huge boots for him to fill in.

Skipper Singh has been the best dragflicker and the top scorer in Paris, but India has been relying heavily on him. Jugraj Singh and Araijeet Singh Hundal can shoulder the burden but to be as effective as Singh, they need to elevate their game and that will only happen with time. Players like Sumit, Vivek Prasad and Hardik Singh add depth to the side and will be expected to continue in similar manner.

Post Sreejesh’s retirement, Hockey India is unwilling to let go of the experienced goalkeeper and has entrusted him the responsibility to nurture young talent as the coach of the junior team.

Having guarded the citadel for over two decades, Sreejesh is a battle-hardened warrior who has weathered the highs and lows of Indian hockey. Coming from a humble background, he is conditioned to understand the mindset of the youth and the challenges that these players are exposed to daily. Another key focus area for Hockey India is to further promote the sport and the players in the cricket crazy country.

It was heartbreaking to see people struggling to put a name to Sreejesh’s face in a poll conducted by a youtuber during the Paris Games.

Unless the players become a household name, if not a demigod stature akin to cricketers in the country, the sport will always be in the danger of playing catch-and-miss.