When domestic hockey ignited passions
Although the Premier Division Hockey League is not held going back two and a half years, the country's top-flight hockey competition had once been a significant way to obtain entertainment for sports lovers, who were enthralled to watch high-voltage matches involving the world's big stars like Tahir Zaman, Shahbaz Ahmed, Dhanraj Pillay and many other Asian luminaries.
Each time Bangladesh's perennial foes Abahani and Mohammedan locked horns, the rivalry only appeared to grow stronger. As a win for either the Sky Blues or the Black and Whites was always a concern of prestige, both giants also devote a supplementary effort to beat their rivals off the field by roping in the very best players within their respective sides.
And the competition was not just limited by securing the services of local players, but massive efforts were devote to rope in foreign players. Former national players Mahbub Harun and Rafiqul Islam Kamal told some tales of domestic hockey, that was once considered to hold most potential in Bangladesh after football.
Names like Mohammedan, Tahir Zaman and Shahbaz Ahmed were synonymous with Bangladesh hockey league, that your Black and Whites won four times [1995, 1997, 1998, 2000] in a row, riding on the brilliant performances of the legendary Pakistani players.
However, not many hockey fans know that Tahir and Shahbaz had promised to wear the Abahani jersey before changing their minds and sporting the Black and White.
"Through the Asian Games in Japan in 1994, Tahir Zaman, Shahbaz and Irfan decided to play for Abahani after obtaining the offer from me. Later, Afzalur Rahman Sinha bhai [then chairman of Abahani hockey committee] phoned them in Pakistan to verify their participation for Abahani in the Premier League. Everything was ready plus they were likely to arrive on the 11th, but we phoned them just four days before their arrival and they refused to play for Abahani," recalled Mahbub while speaking with The Daily Star recently.
"Later, we learned that someone -- a Mohammedan fan or official -- who was a pal of Shahbaz and lived in Canada, intervened and convinced them to play for Mohammedan in 1996, and they found Bangladesh to play for Mohammedan. Despite their refusal to play for Abahani, Sinha bhai invited them for supper at our club tent," said Mahbub, adding that Abahani cannot clinch the league title given that the trio played for Mohammedan, although Abahani won the Club Cup tournament throughout that time.
The matches between Abahani and Mohammedan were always electrifying and as is becoming the main country's sporting lore, it even spread to the gallery sometimes and unnecessary incidents occurred.
"A crucial face between Abahani and Mohammedan is still vivid in my own memory as the match was played over two days. With Abahani needing only a draw to become champions, only 32 minutes of hockey was possible as a result of scuffles on-and-off the field, and the rest was played the very next day with none folks locating the target, and we became champions," said Mahbub, who was however more content to have been captain when Abahani were unbeaten champions in 1993.
In that time, Usha KS was the third force and, with striker Rafiqul Islam Kamal and Mohammad Sadek, gave Abahani and Mohammadan a run because of their money.
"Usha also had four Pakistani players in the premier league, that was really very competitive as all three teams had equal chances to win the league before Mohammedan clinched the title," recalled Kamal, adding that the typical of play was also high with the neighborhood players also holding their own against foreign players.
Kamal, who's very thankful to his coaches Ehtesam Sultan and Pratap Sankar Hazra, also said that during days past, the Inter-University Games was also very competitive as, despite having seven to eight national players, they had to work hard to win the hockey medal for Dhaka University.
Both Mahbub and Kamal still cherish the abundance of memories of playing hockey, especially in times of social distancing.
Mahbub Harun was called Bangla's Shahbaz and he's still keen on that moniker, while Kamal still becomes overwhelmed when recalling that the majority of his fans went outside the capital to meet up him plus some even wrote him letters.
"When I played for Usha KC, a whole lot of Mohammedan fans came to watch me from the gallery plus they shouted to tell me that Kamal bhai, please score one more goal as we put a gamble on you. It certainly inspired me to score more," said Kamal, the best goal-scorer in a season with 40 goals in 1995.
However, it pains both former stars to start to see the state of misery Bangladeshi hockey reaches the moment and they both blamed the irregularity in holding the league.
