BHUBANESWAR: Tucked quietly in the West Stand of the Kalinga Stadium, with no fancy tournament ribbon around his neck, a Sikh gentleman appeared no different than the many others from his hockey-loving turbaned community seated around him on Tuesday. Forty-one years ago, at the Wankhede Stadium in Bombay, now Mumbai, Rajinder Singh was doing what India couldn't do consistently in this Hockey World Cup. He scored 12 goals on penalty corners -- still a record for an Indian player in a World Cup.
Arms crossed, the 1980 Olympics gold medallist Rajinder was watching the Belgians putting it across India's tormentor in the crossovers, New Zealand. It took his mind back to 1982 when, incidentally, India had beaten New Zealand 3-2 in the classification crossovers before finishing fifth in the tournament. Here, the team has been relegated to fight in the 9th-16th place playoffs.
