Barefoot victories and stick magic

As India turns 60 and we are reminded of the many red-letter days that marked our freedom struggle, pre-independence India's sporting prowess fails to find a suitable mention.

Long before Gandhiji's successful Satyagraha movement, long before Bhagat Singh and his comrades shook the British Government, long before Netaji Bose's INA took on the British Army, a band of 11 bare-footed men dared to achieve the impossible - defeat the British in their own game.

July 29, 1911 will surely be remembered as the first red-letter day in the annals of Indian sports.

It was on this day that Mohun Bagan beat the East Yorkshire team 2-1 to win the IFA Shield.

An Indian team completely composed of 'natives', trounced the regimental team in Kolkata, capital of British India, on a ground barely one km from the Viceroy's residence.

En route to the finals, Bagan registered two memorable wins. The Kolkata team beat the Rifle Brigade and the 1st Middlesex Regiment. It may seem romanticising the game a bit too much if one were to say that the result of the final match forced the British to shift their capital to Delhi in 1911, but suggestions in the past have been made to the effect that Bagan's win would have given further impetus to the militant nationalism in Bengal at that time. And surely that factor would have played on the minds of the rulers, even though a decision to shift the capital had been approved by London earlier.

At that time, the free press, even in England, had acknowledged and congratulated Mohun Bagan. The Empire reported: "All honours to Mohun Bagan. Those 11 players are not only a glory to themselves, but the whole nation deserves the billing."

As another story goes, during the city-wide celebrations of the triumph, one man pointed to the Union Jack atop Fort William and asked: "When will that come down?" Someone replied that it will come down when Bagan wins the shield again. It may be a coincidence, but Bagan won their next shield in 1947. In between Bagan made it to the Rovers Cup final in 1923.

Thirteen years later, Mohammaden Sporting won the IFA Shield and in 1937 Bangalore Muslims won the Rovers Cup. Md Sporting then won the Durand Cup, previously won only by the army teams, for the first time in 1940 in New Delhi. There were many other red-letter days in pre-independence Indian sports. The Indian hockey team won gold in the 1928 Amsterdam, 1932 Los Angeles and the 1936 Berlin Olympics. Hockey wizard Dhyan Chand was part of all three teams. Legend has it that after seeing him play at the 1936 Berlin Olympics, Hitler offered Dhyan Chand, a major in the British Indian Army, German citizenship and a senior army post. The prolific striker politely turned down his request.

Dhyan Chand's deft stick-work and amazing ball control left fellow players and spectators awestruck. In one of the most fitting tributes, residents of Vienna built a statue of the mercurial player with four hands and four sticks, signifying his unparalleled control over the ball.

Basketball great Michael Jordan wrote in his autobiography: "I wish everybody had fire. But they don't. You have players who have the talent but not the heart, you have players who have the heart but not the talent."

Pre-independence India's sportsmen had both.

(In celebration, In memorium - 15th Aug, 2007)