Olympian to request Rahul, SRK to manage Hockey India

Bhopal: In a bid to clear the mess afflicting Indian Hockey, former Olympian Aslam Sher Khan said that he would request Congress General Secretary, Rahul Gandhi to intervene and bring in film star Shah Rukh Khan to manage Hockey India.

"If the film star gets associated with Hockey, the game would get a big boost in India," Aslam told reporters. The former Olympian said that according to his information, Rahul knows Shah Rukh and his suggestion is acceptable. "It was not his idea that Shah Rukh should spent a lot of time on hockey," he said adding "his mere name would be enough to help hockey in the country."The former Olympian said that Shah Rukh`s father was a hockey player and long time back the star had also said he too wanted to play hockey. Aslam said that the star film`s `Chak De India`, had hockey as its base and Shah Rukh is not someone who does not know the game. "Hockey had been India`s pride but this declined after India won the cricket World Cup in 1983," he said.Aslam said that after the world cup win, cricket became popular with the masses and hockey was relegated to the background. He said that all this would change if Shah Rukh becomes associated with Hockey India. PTI