Fearless men under the bar

In a classic understatement, Balbir Singh, champion centre-forward of the golden early post-independence era of hockey, is recently reported to have said that hockey is the same old game as it was in his heyday. His poser: Is it not all about getting the ball past the goalkeeper and over the goal-line? To which one can imagine, the late Shankar Laxman, the much decorated goalkeeper, would have added by way of a joking rejoinder, that the padded ones under the bar were there precisely to deny centre-forwards like the venerable Sardar, or any other player for that matter, that pleasure.
Despite Balbir Singh's over-simplified view, the game, almost everything about it, goalkeepers included, has changed.Goalkeepers in Laxman's time were left to face fire and brimstone with their stick and a pair of leg pads, quite unlike their securely-helmeted successors of more recent times, who turn out in protective padding from hand to foot.
And what fire and brimstone! Old-timers who had watched stalwart strikers of the ball like Dharam Singh, RS Gentle, Tarlochan Singh, Prithipal Singh and Surjit Singh (of that deadly 26oz stick) fire their cannon-ball shots from short corners (as penalty corners were once described), will vouch for their aggression. No less lethal were rockets fired on the run by forwards like Balbir Singh or the late Udham Singh and their ilk.
Goalkeeping in those good old times, when equipment manufacturers had still to invent expensive protective gear, was a trade for brave men with sharp reflexes. To make things worse, there was even a phase when the rule banning the raising of the stick above the shoulder was relaxed. The shots directed at the goal became deadlier as the ball flew at menacing speed, as even undercuts were quite legal.
Yours truly was once witness to an intrepid, even suicidal, save by an army goalkeeper, Fredericks, who took a sharply rising missile fired by a full-back on his forehead - the swelling was the size of the ball that struck him. The man had to be stretchered out of the Shivaji Stadium and admitted to a nearby hospital. It was all too dangerous. But that was the way it was. All in a day's work for a goalkeeper.
To stretch the memory further back, there was that memorable day at the National Stadium when Desamuthu of Hindustan Aircraft, Bangalore, single-handedly defied the power and might of the formidable Punjab Police attack, led by the legendary Balbir Singh himself. The great Udham Singh got so frustrated at failing to beat the goalkeeper, that he threw his stick out of the pitch.
Cedric Pereira, Mark Patterson, Charles Cornelius and Francis are some other names that come to mind when talking of goalkeepers.
But with due respect to the fearless men between the posts of that era, the modern tribe of goalkeepers is equally difficult to beat. Even expert drag-flickers will agree. There have even been goalkeeper-captains in recent times, who have directed the team's strategy and tactics when not busy making unbelievable saves. Ian Taylor of England, for one, led his country to a World Cup victory. Leading from the rear, you could say.
Goals, they say, win matches. But often those who prevent them from being scored also win crucial matches. Shankar Laxman was one of them.