Chak De!!

Saw the movie "Chak De India"...
A nice inspiring story, with some nationalist sentiments thrown in. Nicely shot, not too long, just about right. But what is particularly nice is that the director selected hockey rather than relying on cricket. The movie even has a character who looks down on hockey and mocks it calling "Gilli-danda". Was it just because he is referring to the women's hockey team that he calls it this or would he have done the same had it been a men's team?

That apart, it is certainly ironic then that the "Chak De India" slogan was applied to the Indian cricket team returning after winning the Ywenty20 cup. No mean feat that, but the very term theme that tried to tell us that there is more to sports in India than cricket, was used to embody a cricket victory.

And what did the Indian hockey team get when it came back victorious in Asia cup, unbeaten in the whole tournament? Most of us don't even know the name of the captain.

And now that cricket has forayed into the super-short version, the future of our hockey players seems really bleak indeed.