India’s ace player, Shamsheer Ali talks about his beginnings, the new formats in the sport and how BSF has saved the sport from fading away. By Jigyasu Joshi
Being in the field feels like home to me. And the feeling of riding my horse, is incomparable,” says Shamsheer Ali, India’s best polo player, gazing towards the polo field. The field which has just witnessed an exhibition match, organised by the PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry, between Red Raiders and Black Magic, is now occupied by the camels of the BSF for the camel show.
Shamsheer, a six-goal player with an unparalleled record in Asia, spends most of his time in the field practicing his skills. He started with a handicap of two but with passion and perseverance notched up an impressive six-goal rating and an Asian championship. He started playing polo at the age of nine. “In India, it is not an easy sport to pursue. My father had to build a farm and buy horses for us to play. There are very few polo fields in India. The clubs are exclusive and only the Army or a privileged few have access to them. If a non-member wants to play, they are allowed to play many games in a season. Jaipur’s 61st cavalry (one of the few unmechanised mounted cavalry regiments in the world) alone gives a chance to civilians to use their polo grounds. The choices for the not-so-affluent civilians are limited and the culture of the game is languishing,” says Shamsheer.
However, now there is a boost to the sport by the entry of Indian corporate chiefs who play and patronise the game. “There are few businessmen who are entering the game and coming up with tournaments which give the aspiring polo players a chance to play this sport. Even the format of Arena polo is coming up. In this format, they do not play in the large fields but small arenas are made, nearly 100 yards, which are netted upto 10 feet and the audience can sit very close to the arena and watch the players playing. Even the ball used in this format is bigger and made out of rubber. This sure would give the sport a push it needs,” he says.
Walking in the side stand, he suddenly turns to the camel show and smiles as he sees the camels bowing down to salute the audience. Ali is the only polo player in the world who has some fantastic skills of tapping the ball on his mallet and not letting it touch the ground. He once galloped from one goal post to the other while tapping the ball throughout. “It happened when I was playing in london,” he chuckles. “When people look at me doing this, they are like ‘Oh my god, this is amazing’. And it is amazing but a lot of practice goes behind it,” he adds.
This sophisticated equestrian team sport was brought to South America by the early British settlers from India. The modern game of polo, formalised and popularised by the British, originates from Manipur. In a twist of history, this oldest recorded team sport, with the first matches being played in Persia over 2,500 years ago, was brought to Argentine flat farmlands by the British settlers and Railway engineers from India in the 1870s. They say that there are two levels of polo: world-class and Argentine-class. “Argentina is the best polo school of the world. If anyone wants to understand and master their game, they have to go to Argentina. It has the world’s best polo players, the best trainers and coaches and first-class polo grounds, which combine to make the finest polo experience. England is great for professionals but it is too expensive. Argentina might be the other end of the world but polo there is both top-class and affordable.”
Ali believes that it is because of the BSF who is holding the game of polo in India. “It is because of them that the game is still surviving in India. Otherwise, it would have died a long time back,” he adds.
“There are many tournaments round the corner. I have to buckle up for each of them and I think I have to begin right now,” he concludes and walks to his team and gears up again for some practice.
Neela Pratap Singh Rudy, Chairperson of PHD Chambers, Sports Committee and Mukesh Gupta, Chairman Tourism Committee of PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry, came together with the Border Security Force to host this first of its kind, Polo exhibition match followed by camel and canine show at the Jaipur Polo Ground.