When domestic hockey ignited passions

Although the Premier Division Hockey League has not been held for the last two and a half years, the country's top-flight hockey competition had once been a major source of 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.

Every time Bangladesh's perennial foes Abahani and Mohammedan locked horns, the rivalry only seemed to grow stronger. As a win for either the Sky Blues or the Black and Whites was always an issue of prestige, both giants also put in an extra effort to beat their rivals off the field by roping in the best players in their respective sides.

And the competition was not just limited to securing the services of local players, but massive efforts were put in to rope in foreign players. Former national players Mahbub Harun and Rafiqul Islam Kamal told some tales of domestic hockey, which 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, which the Black and Whites won four times [1995, 1997, 1998, 2000] in a row, riding on the brilliant performances of the legendary Pakistani players.

But 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.

"During the Asian Games in Japan in 1994, Tahir Zaman, Shahbaz and Irfan agreed to play for Abahani after getting the offer from me. Later, Afzalur Rahman Sinha bhai [then chairman of Abahani hockey committee] phoned them in Pakistan to confirm their participation for Abahani in the Premier League. Everything was ready and they were supposed 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 talking to The Daily Star recently.

"Later, we learned that someone -- a Mohammedan fan or official -- who was a friend of Shahbaz and lived in Canada, intervened and convinced them to play for Mohammedan in 1996, and they came to Bangladesh to play for Mohammedan. Despite their refusal to play for Abahani, Sinha bhai invited them for dinner at our club tent," said Mahbub, adding that Abahani could not clinch the league title as long as the trio played for Mohammedan, although Abahani won the Club Cup tournament during that time.

The matches between Abahani and Mohammedan were always electrifying and as has become part of the country's sporting lore, it even spread to the gallery sometimes and unwanted incidents took place.

"A crucial encounter between Abahani and Mohammedan is still vivid in my 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 because of scuffles on-and-off the field, and then the rest was played the next day with none of us finding the target, and we became champions," said Mahbub, who was however more happy 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 for their money.

"Usha also had four Pakistani players in the premier league, which 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 standard of play was also high with the local players also holding their own against foreign players.

Kamal, who is very thankful to his coaches Ehtesam Sultan and Pratap Sankar Hazra, also said that during those days, 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 is still fond of that moniker, while Kamal still becomes overwhelmed when recalling that a lot of his fans went outside the capital to meet him and some even wrote him letters.

"When I played for Usha KC, a lot of Mohammedan fans came to watch me from the gallery and they shouted to tell me that Kamal bhai, please score one more goal as we put a bet on you. It really inspired me to score more," said Kamal, the highest goal-scorer in a season with 40 goals in 1995.

However, it pains both former stars to see the state of misery Bangladeshi hockey is at the moment and they both blamed the irregularity in holding the league.