Jhansi news: The day of March 15, 1975 in Indian Games is recorded in golden letters as the Indian hockey team’s greats made India a world winner in the field of sports for the first time on this day. On 15 March 1975, Ashok Kumar, the famous son of this unprecedented victory against Pakistan in Kolalmpur city of Malaysia against Pakistan, Ashok Kumar, the famous son of Major Dhyanchand, made India the winning goal in the last moments of the final match to make India the world champion in hockey for the first time. When the world champion’s first world champion was first recorded in Indian sports history.
Referring to the memories of becoming a World Cup winner after 50 years, Ashok Dhyanchand, while referring to many such memoirs in a conversation with sports analyst Brijendra Yadav, said that 1975 World Cup winning Indian hockey team
Ajit Pal Singh (captain), Ashok Kumar, Aslam Sher Khan, Harcharan Singh, Lejali Fernandez, Varinder Singh, Ashok Dewan, Michael Kindo, BP. Govinda, H.J.S. Chimney, Victor Philips, Onkar Singh, BP Kalia, Surjit Singh, Mohinder Singh, Shivaji Pawar, Harjinder Singh had a joint attempt.
When asked Ashok Kumar, which of the two World Cups 1973 and 1975 was his favorite. So he immediately replied 1975 Our team was very good. Describing the 1975 World Cup victory in Kuala Lumpur as a milestone for Indian hockey, Ashok further said, our team was excellent in 1973. And at that time the German coach said that give me this Indian team and I will win all the trophies. It was one of our fit teams.
We were also very close to winning the trophy in 1973, but we lost to the hosts despite being ahead of two goals at one time. I missed a goal in extra time and we missed the penalty stroke in Sudan Death. It was very sad for us. So we did not want to leave any stone unturned in 1975, the great Dhyanchand’s son Ashok Kumar said that before the tournament, we had a practice camp in Chandigarh. There was a huge crowd to see us. At that time Giani Zail Singh was the Chief Minister and he used to come to meet us twice a week with Sports Minister Umrao Singh. Our morale was high and we were firm to win. He said that the team’s entry was almost withdrawn before the tournament started. Many people worked hard to make it possible.
The then coach Balbir Singh Senior had created a motto, it was our goal to achieve world domination. It was written with bright letters at the entrance of the team hostel during the training camp. All the members of the team would read that sentence and then practice many times during the day.
India was lagging behind hosts Malaysia in the semi -finals, when team manager Balbir Singh Senior fielded Aslam, which he got a lot of benefit and pulled the match in an extra time by scoring a goal in a decisive position.
He said that our confidence had increased considerably after the victory in the semi -finals. Pakistan was a former champion and very strong team, but in the final they could not match our confidence.
It was an additional pressure for Ashok Kumar as he was the son of hockey magician Major Dhyanchand. He definitely said that when we reached Malaysia and I first saw the World Cup Trophy in Hotel Lobby, I promised myself that I would make my father proud.
Describing the live depiction of this 50-former historic final match, he said that Muhammad Zahid Sheikh had scored Pakistan in the 17th minute. This goal of 1-0 from 1-0 until Madhyastantar affected the Indian team’s confidence but the players did not give up. In the 44th minute of the match, he got a penalty corner and Surjit Singh scored a goal to make India thrill in the match. In the 51st minute of the match, I scored a charismatic goal by Ashok Kumar to put India ahead 2–1. This goal but also had a lot of controversy. The ball came out on the post. The referee gave it a goal but did not agree to the Pakistani, but 40 thousand spectators sitting in the stadium were shocked. After this, in the remaining 16 minutes of the match, the Indian team’s defenders and goalkeeper Ashok Dewan gave India a historic victory by turning water on Pakistan’s plans.
The final day was declared a national holiday in India and the Indian community in Malaysia was equally excited.
Wherever we went, people gathered to get a glimpse and took autographs and photographs. People went mad and were treated like a hero in Malaysia and India. Since then 50 years have passed and India has not yet won the second World Cup.
Ashok Kumar regretted that despite such a historical achievement, the winning team did not get its rights. Expressing regrets, he said that forget to celebrate the celebration, no one called us to congratulate us on this day. I think many people do not remember this day. After all, we are crazy countries of cricket. Who remembers hockey heroes?
He said, before and after our match, coaches and captains used to discuss mistakes and ways to correct them. The coaches used to watch the game of our opponents and focus on their weaknesses. And our options sitting on the bench also used to tell us about our mistakes. Playing against Pakistan was a great experience. They were all world class players. We had a very good forward line with players like Harcharan Singh, VJ Philips, BP Govinda and Mere.
In this Amarjeet, he also referred to the radio commentary in the voice of Jasdev Singh and said that his voice will always be alive in the memories of our hockey players and Indians. Former Olympian Ashok Kumar, the hero of the World Cup winning team, was awarded the Arjuna Award in 1974. He was then awarded the Yash Bharti Award by the Government of Uttar Pradesh in 2013. In 2024, he was awarded the Major Dhyanchand Lifetime Achievement Award by Hockey India.