India, March 15 -- Fifty years ago (March 15, 1975), the Indian hockey team became the first in Indian sporting history to win a team world championship. The Indian national cricket team the very same year flopped in the inaugural (Prudential) World Cup in England.

Right from pre-independence days the two sports had vied for the hearts and minds of the Indian populace. Indian hockey made their debut at the Olympics in 1928 at Amsterdam a winning one with the first of eight gold medals and Dhyan Chand, dubbed 'The Wizard' of world hockey dazzling one and all with his amazing skills. Four years later the Indian cricket team led by the flamboyant and hugely popular CK Nayudu made their Test debut at the Lord's cricket ground in London.

Whi...