Bengaluru: Indian hockey has changed its colours. In place of the legacy blue, a norm since 1926 and a shade instantly identified with the country’s stickmen and women, is saffron, starting from the FIH World Cup in Belgium and the Netherlands in a fortnight. The new kits arrived at the national camps here last week.It is a pass from the deep that has sparked outrage from former players, hockey lovers and people across society. As the visuals of the new jerseys were released earlier this week, it blew up social media. Hockey India (HI) scampered into damage control mode, claiming that the blue was being discarded since it clashed with the colour of the turf and hampered visibility. Blue-coloured turfs have been in practice for 14 years now.“The decision was taken collectively by the players and coaches after we felt the blue jersey blended with the blue turf, making visibility difficult at times. We used the new jersey in training on Thursday, and it made it easier to identify teammates and communicate on the field,” men’s team skipper Harmanpreet Singh told TOI.Meanwhile, a few players TOI spoke to said there was no team meeting held to discuss the colour of the jersey, and they realised the colour change only when their kits arrived.Past masters who have donned the blue with pride, are hurt by the decision.Vasudevan Baskaran, the captain of the 1980 Moscow Olympics gold-winning team, questioned, “This entire generation has grown up playing on blue turf; have they suddenly gone colour blind? We have played in blue clothing since 1928; it is a colour we identify with when we say an India jersey. Why change it now? It is shameful.”Former India captain Viren Rasquinha was among the first to react, posting, “… This is embarrassing. The legacy and identity of the Indian team has always been blue. I wore the Blue jersey with pride for many years. Fans want to see our Indian team in blue. What is the logic of orange?”Defending the change of colour, HI president Dilip Tirkey — a former India captain who played most of his 412 internationals in blue — told TOI, “I don’t understand why people are reacting negatively to the change in jersey colour. This is not the first time that we are playing in non-blue jerseys. The players and support staff felt a striking colour would ensure better visibility of the ball on the blue pitch.”On the colour that was eventually chosen, Dilip explained, “We had a choice of two colours, yellow and orange; we collectively went with the latter because orange is a part of the tricolour. Also, we haven’t said the team won’t wear blue ever again.”India have in the past worn different colours at various tournaments. They went with yellow and light blue jerseys at the World Cups in 2014 and 2018 respectively, while white with orange has been used as well in the past, including at the Olympics.The issue of ball visibility on a blue turf is rather subjective, given that the blue surface was introduced in 2012 and the citing and the colour of the jersey were not discussed.Outlining the importance of the blue jersey, Baskaran added, “In 1960, as a school boy, I watched Harbinder Singh and team play and told myself, ‘One day I want to wear the India blue.’ The colour is identified as the national sporting colour, and it is being taken away from the national sport.”A former hockey Olympic medallist, who did not want to be named, pointed out, “For 14 years, the team has been playing on blue turfs wearing the same colour jersey. If it was such a big problem, why wasn’t this discussed or implemented before? Also, the men’s team won two Olympic bronze medals wearing blue, and the women’s team’s best performance at the Olympics came in the same colours too. What’s changed now?”Harmanpreet urged people to focus on supporting the team. “We are always looking for ways to improve, and if a change benefits the team, we will make it. There is no politics behind this—it’s purely a sporting decision. I hope the focus remains on supporting the team as we prepare for the World Cup and aim to get the coveted trophy home,” the drag flick ace stated.
