India walked out in saffron. The Netherlands played in blue
For decades, blue has been the colour most closely linked with Indian sport. Across disciplines, Indian teams have worn blue while representing the country on the international stage. But ahead of the FIH Hockey World Cup in the Netherlands and Belgium, Hockey India unveiled a new saffron jersey for both the men's and women's teams last month.
The reason, according to Hockey India, was visibility. The federation said the "blue playing uniform tended to blend/merge with the blue synthetic playing surface, which is now the standard colour of international hockey pitches. This visual similarity affected on-field clarity and visibility for the players."
However, in India women's first match of the second round of the FIH World Cup againt the co-hosts Netherlands on Friday in Amstelveen, India walked out in saffron, while the Netherlands played in blue. On the same blue turf where India had argued blue jerseys reduced visibility. Perhaps the Dutch did not have the same visibility concerns.
The change in India's primary jersey colour drew criticism from former captains Pargat Singh, Dhanraj Pillay and Viren Rasquinha when it was announced last month. Pargat was the most direct in his criticism.
"Everything in the country is being saffronised," said former India captain Pargat Singh while criticizing Hockey India's decision. Dhanraj, who played 339 international matches for India, including four Olympics, four World Cups and four Champions Trophy tournaments, questioned why a colour associated with Indian hockey for decades was replaced.
"The blue jersey has become the identity of Indian hockey. Being one of the colours of our national flag, saffron is important and auspicious but it has never been the traditional colour of Indian hockey. I don't understand why this has suddenly changed after so many years," Dhanraj was quoted as saying by news agency PTI.
Pargat also warned against bringing politics into sport. "Everything in the country is being saffronised – education, history and now sports too. This is worrying. Sports unite people and rise above religion, caste and politics. It is unfortunate if such thinking enters sports as well," he had said after Hockey India's decision, as quoted by PTI.
Meanwhile, in the match on Friday, Indian women's hockey team produced a disciplined defensive performance against the hosts. Veteran goalkeeper Savita led the backline as India restricted the world No. 1 side and three-time defending champions for long periods.
The Netherlands eventually won 2-0 in the first match of the second round at the packed Wagner Stadium. Both goals came from penalty corners, while India did not concede a field goal. The Indian goalkeepers and defenders, who had saved 12 penalty corners in the previous match against England, prevented the world No. 1 team from playing freely at the packed Wagner Stadium, and the co-hosts could not score a single field goal.
