India vs Pakistan: A rivalry surviving on legacy
In the last 15 games between the two sides, India have won 12, two ended in draws while one was a no-result
“India vs Pakistan pehla hockey Test. Islahuddin aur Samiullah dono aa rahe hai. Bataiye result kya hoga?” (First Test between India and Pakistan. Both Islahuddin and Samiullah are coming. Guess the result). Amol Palekar’s character Ram Prasad Sharma said as he excitedly discussed hockey with his uncle in the renowned 1979 comedy Gol Maal.
That was an era when hockey was the preeminent sport in South Asia when the two countries were masters of the game, winning whatever there was to. “We used to sing songs during our matches. That just showed how confident the two teams were,” the same Islahuddin Siddiqui, a two-time world champion with Pakistan, told this correspondent in an earlier interview.
While the global dominance decreased in the 1990s and 2000s, falling behind the European teams and Australia, the two outfits were still evenly matched, giving a tough fight to each other.
There were stars in the team that people would turn up to watch in packed houses. Pakistan had Sohail Abbas, Rehan Butt, Shakeel Abbasi while India had charismatic wizards like Dhanraj Pillay, Dilip Tirkey and Jugraj Singh. Even the India-Pakistan game at the 2010 World Cup in New Delhi saw 16,000 fans turning up at the Major Dhyan Chand National Stadium, the only contest of the tournament that saw a full house.
But today the rivalry is a pale shadow of the past. While Indian hockey saw a resurgence in the world order in the past decade, the opposite has been true for Pakistan.
Heavy investment has gone into Indian hockey in the past decade from exposure tours to bringing in top-level foreign coaches to high performance directors. Apart from Sports Authority of India (SAI) and Hockey India (HI) taking care of every need of players, investment from the state of Odisha to the tune of Rs.100 crore for five years, providing state-of-the-art infrastructure and facilities have resulted in India reclaiming its spot at the top of the hockey world order.
Harmanpreet Singh and Co may not be dominating world hockey but they regularly beat the best in the business, are currently ranked No.4 in the world and also returned to the Olympic podium after a gap of 41 years.
Pakistan, on the other hand, are No.16 in the world. They failed to qualify for the last two Olympics and two of the last three World Cups where they are still the most successful team with four titles.
“Hockey culture just suddenly died in Pakistan,” says Shahbaz Ahmed, the only player to win two back-to-back Player of the Tournaments at World Cups (1990 and 1994).
Sponsorship, or the lack of it, is also a major reason behind them falling behind. Despite qualifying for the 2018 World Cup, they almost didn’t make it to Bhubaneswar until the 11th hour when a private player decided to fund the team’s trip to India. Recently, former Pakistan head coach Sigfried Aikman resigned after not getting his salary for a year.
Numbers show that the once famed India-Pakistan rivalry in hockey is not much of a competition these days. In the last 15 games between the two sides, India have won 12, two ended in draws while one was a no-result. Meaning, Pakistan last beat India seven years ago in the final of the South Asian Games in Guwahati where the hosts had sent a third-string side. The last time Pakistan beat India in a major tournament was at the 2014 Asian Games in Incheon – nine years ago.
“Yes, it is true Pakistan has not won against India since 2014. This team is a young team. There are 14 in the squad (of 18) who have never played a match against India. If you compare India with Pakistan, India are stronger in every aspect. India’s penalty corner battery is its biggest advantage. It is the best in the world. Also, their fitness levels are much superior," said Pakistan head coach Muhammad Saqlain on the eve of the clash between the two teams at the Asian Champions Trophy in Chennai.
“But hockey is a game of nerves. A good player is one who handles pressure better. We are lacking the finishing touch. We created many circle penetrations throughout the tournament but could not finish. That is our biggest weakness. But it is a do-or-die match for us. We will give it our best shot. India may be world No.4 but there are still gaps in India’s game which we will try to exploit.”
While India have already made the cut for the semi-finals, Pakistan’s fate rests on the contest against India and also on the other final round-robin matches.
India captain Harmanpreet said their team is also not taking their neighbours lightly in what will be the first match between the two sides since the 1-1 draw at the 2022 Asia Cup in Jakarta.
“The rivalry has become a lot more different now. Both were very good teams back then. But it's not that we are winning easily against them. They have the same mentality, playing styles and they also play attacking hockey. We are playing more matches, which is helping us a lot. Now, they are also giving chances to youngsters which is a good step," Harmanpreet said.
While it is dwindling, the legacy of the rivalry still adds that extra zing which make people turn up for this flawed yet romantic rivalry
