New Delhi: Hockey legend Mohammed Shahid, the last representative of the golden era of magical dribbling, passed away at a private hospital in Gurgaon on Wednesday. He was 56.
Suffering from a bout of jaundice and dengue, Shahid was admitted at the hospital about a fortnight ago. The end came at 10.45 am. The family was told by the doctors at 8am to be ready to face the worse.
His family members, including his son and daughter, were present when the 1980 Moscow Olympics gold medal winner breathed his last because of multiple organ failure.
Shahid’s body will be taken to Varanasi, his hometown. “His last rites will be performed there,” said Shahid’s son Mohammed Saif.
Vasudevan Baskaran, captain of the Moscow Olympics hockey team, MM Somaya and former star forward Ashok Kumar are among those who have rushed to Varanasi to attend the last rites .
Starting from Dhyanchand and Roop Singh in the 30s, India have produced an array of great dribblers, who dazzled fans on natural turf over the years. If KD Singh ‘Babu’ and Balbir Singh (Senior) were of the next generation, Inam-ur Rehman and Ashok Kumar attracted huge crowd in the 60s and 70s for their wizardry with the hockey stick.
Shahid started playing in the late 70s and represented India for around 12 years. He was the last true member of the “dribbling club.” Born on April 14, 1960 and a product of the Sports Hostel in Lucknow, Shahid made Ashok Kumar his idol and perhaps overshadowed his guru in the years to come. He was certainly India’s answer to Shahnaz Sheikh of Pakistan.
“Once our Indian Airlines team had a camp in Lucknow and we used to play matches against the Lucknow hostel side, who were coached by Babu,” recalled Ashok Kumar.
Aslam Sher Khan recalled how the star studded Indian Airlines team were stunned by Shahid’s brilliance in the 1976 Aga Khan hockey in Mumbai. “We had a near India team – myself, Ashok, Govinda, Surjit Singh – all winners of the 1975 World Cup.
“We were pitted against Sports Hostel, Lucknow, and 16-year-old Shahid alone made us bite the dust at the Gymkhana ground. I was a full-back and was completely overwhelmed by his stick work and brilliance. He could move on both sides quickly and smoothly and was a nightmare for defenders,” Khan said.
But then, Aslam Sher Khan was not the only defender to suffer at the hands of Shahid. At 19, he was adjudged the best forward in the Champions Trophy in Karachi. He had talented teammates like Zafar Iqbal, Mervyn Fernandes, Surinder Singh Sodhi and MK Kaushik, but Shahid was definitely the best.
Having formed a deadly combination with Zafar Iqbal, Shahid’s best came in the 1980 Olympics when India regained the gold medal after 16 years defeating Spain in the final. Two years later, Shahid’s worst moment came when Pakistan outclassed India 7-1 in the final of the Asian Games in New Delhi.
Immediately after this, India played the Esanda Cup in Australia and beat Pakistan there. But Shahid was not happy — he wanted that result to happen in the Asian Games, in front of his home fans. He was also inconsolable after India drew with Germany in the 1984 Olympics and failed to make the semi-finals.
Shahid had two passions in life – he was always immaculately dressed and was extremely finicky about his hockey sticks. He only used the best from a particular company. He would always be ready at least four hours before an important match and would rehearse dribbling skills alone in the room.
Though an Arjuna and Padma Shri Award winner, Shahid, sadly, was never used by the erstwhile Indian Hockey Federation (IHF) or Hockey India (HI) in nurturing juniors. But then, his attachment with the city of Varanasi was also a stumbling block to some extent.
A senior sports officer with the Indian Railways posted in Varanasi (Diesel Locomotive Works), Shahid was once requested by the UP government to look after the sports hostel in Lucknow. He declined as he did not want to leave the holy city.
