Narinder Batra as head of international hockey federation will be great for India
Narinder Batra's rise to the post of president in the international hockey federation (FIH) is a phenomenal one.
It seems just like yesterday Indian hockey was in the dumps and failed to make it to the Beijing Olympics in 2008.
Blame games took place and once the Indian Hockey Federation was rightly disbanded and Hockey India took over the sport at home, Batra took it upon himself to improve our national game.
If you run a popularity contest at home among sporting officials, Batra may not win it.
The reason for it is this man is so passionate about hockey he can fight with the whole world for it.
When international foreign coaches came to India and went, Batra would be the target.
He never minded being the punching bag as the well-being of Indian hockey was his main concern.
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| Narinder Batra (R) succeeded Leandro Negre (C) as FIH president on Saturday. (Photo credit: Mail Today) |
A 12th place finish at the London Olympics made us weep and Batra took responsibility for it.
People gave him the mandate to continue and in the Rio Olympics, India climbed up to the sixth position.
Today, hockey in the world is a skewed sport. If Batra could win a whopping 68 votes at the FIH elections in Dubai on Saturday and defeat the other two candidates hands down, a huge section of the world has given him the mandate.
This is a sport which had been controlled by the white men for too long. The outgoing president, Leandro Negre is from Spain.
As Batra takes charge, he knows there is a lot of work to be done.
Not just for Asia but countries in Africa where they do not have a single hockey pitch.
Batra's mantra before the voting took place was "Vote for me, vote for hockey".
That was saying a lot as people who have voted for Batra are expecting wholesome changes in the structure of hockey.
Europe has a hockey league, outdoor and indoor. Yet, there are so many countries in the world where there is no grass roots system or a competition structure from where players can come up.
Batra has spoken about making hockey a global sport wherein top rankings do not mean just a few countries are in the top 10.
His vision is for a broader base, putting in place a financial structure for the FIH where the world body is able to support economically weaker countries.
Batra says if the international football federation (FIFA) can support poor countries, there is no reason why the FIH cannot do the same.
On Saturday, Batra got 68 votes while the other two candidates from Australia and Ireland put together got only 42 votes.
It just goes to show that the work done by Batra in the lead up to the elections has paid dividends.
He travelled to almost 55 countries and convinced them to vote for a change.
"Hockey Revolution" was the name of the three-day FIH Congress in Dubai and Batra has started a mini revolution of sorts.
To be sure, there are not too many Indians heading international sports federations.
In squash, N Ramachandran is the world body president. The International Cricket Council has seen Indians as presidents from Jagmohan Dalmiya to Sharad Pawar and current president Shashank Manohar.
Hockey is an Olympic sport which has been fighting for survival at the Games.
Not long ago, the International Olympic Committee wanted to remove hockey from the Olympics programme.
It has managed to survive and Batra has promised the sport will get stronger.
What was surprising in Batra's campaign was how India's arch rivals Pakistan rallied behind him.
The feeling in Asia today is the Europeans have done enough damage to hockey by bringing in any number of rule changes making it difficult for the spectators to understand the sport.
The game is fast and furious and for hockey to grow and make it a pro sport where players can earn money, it needs brains in terms of marketing and raising funds.
Batra had done all that with the Hockey India League and needs to deliver similar models to other nations as well.
Not many would know that this is the first time an Asian is heading the FIH.
It is a huge shift in power as hockey was being controlled by whites and there was little scope for nations with a different skin colour to prosper.
It may be tempting to suggest at this point of time that Batra focuses only on world hockey.
His first love is for India and there is no way he can shed that responsibility.
Be it providing good accommodation, coaching staff and facilities to the Indian teams, Batra has worked very hard.
He has fought many battles with the bureaucracy and will do well to keep an eye on Indian hockey as well.
Hockey is poised for interesting times as the world is watching an Indian at the helm of affairs.
Batra's detractors will not decrease from here on but increase.
But then, this man has always loved a challenge and world hockey is going to gain from it.
(Courtesy of Mail Today.)