IF one went by numbers, the 'Indians' in the ninth hockey World Cup at Utrecht could have fielded an extra team.Counting Malaysia, Canada and New Zealand there were 15 players of Indian origin playing at Utrecht. Umesh Parag and Ha Bevan with the Kiwis, Hari Kant,Ken Pereira, Bindi Kullar, Robin D'Abreo and Ronnie Jagday with the Canadians and eight in the Malaysian team, counting vice-captain Ramu Shankar who's been capped 171 times.
Says Maninderjit Singh, 25, fullback for six years with Malaysia: "Hockey's in our blood. We can't play anything else." There's also something about tradition and heredity. Jagday's father earlier coached the Canada national team and now coaches the US hockey team. Twenty-two-year-old Kullar's father Prithi Pal also played for Canada. D'Abreo, of Goan origin, was responsible for the Canadian equaliser against Germany—a match in which Canada tied 4-4 with the European hockey giants after trailing thrice in the match. Says San-deep Chopra, editor of an Internet hockey magazine: "Players like Kullar and Pereira are the future of Canadian hockey."
In New Zealand alone, from an available base of 30,000 players, five players of Indian origin made it to the national academy. Says Parag, originally from Gujarat: "The game's very popular with Indians. Specially in Auckland and Wellington." While not all have active ties with relatives back in India, most players follow India's performance closely. In the match against South Korea, for instance, where India faced a lot of dubious decisions, many players were furious with the Pakistani umpire. However, says Shiaz Virjee, the Indian coach of the Canadian national team, "We are Canadians first. Though our skin might suggest something else."
