Indian hockey has raised the bar pretty high with back to back Olympic medals at Tokyo and Paris. However, when it comes to the World Cup stage somehow they have faltered, except for once, and that solitary glory was revisited at the launch of author K Arumugam and journalist Errol D’Cruz’s book, March of Glory: The story of India’s 1975 World Cup hockey triumph on Thursday. Onkar Singh, the youngest member of that World Cup-winning team in Malaysia, released the book alongside former India captain Viren Rasquinha, at the Mumbai Press Club.

Onkar, who played only one match in that tournament, then regaled the modest gathering on Thursday with anecdotes from that glorious campaign. “I was the youngest member of the team (23) and everyone called me ‘Chotu.’ The other players were like my elder brothers, so I was happy to sit out for most of my World Cup debut. Interestingly though, the senior players later told me that I was the team’s ‘lucky charm,’ said Onkar, 73.