BOMBAY, 13 June 2003 — “If you want to see wholesome, skillful hockey, there is no better game to watch than the one between India and Pakistan. It would be worth going miles to watch such a clash.” These gems of wisdom were once dropped by the late Rene Frank, a long serving president of Federation Internationale de Hockey (FIH).
The world hockey chief from the late seventies to the early nineties only echoed what was then a popular sentiment, when the game itself was undergoing a change with speed and one-touch hockey replacing pure skill. In the process, the Asian foothold on world supremacy was lost to what was described as the European style.
There were glimpses, however, of the old subcontinental magic resurfacing at last Sydney Olympics of 2000, and, even more significantly, at the just concluded double-headed tri-nation series in Australia. That India should have emerged as ultimate champions, ought to reiterate faith in the traditional style of hockey, as exemplified by India and Pakistan.
The clash between India and Pakistan in the second stanza of the competition at Sydney, which had sizable support of expatriates from both countries, was a bitterly fought-out encounter. Though, it was unfortunately marked by more acrimony than show of skill, no one will deny that the match itself was an object lesson in how best to combine speed with artistry. The 4-4 draw may have done the Pakistan team in the eye, as it deprived them of a chance of making the final. But India fully deserved that honor and fully justified the same by comprehensively beating Australia to win the title. What are the gains for the Indian and Pakistani teams from the tournament ? According to old war-horse Dhanraj Pillay, one of the most skillful players of recent times, as much as the Indian team cherished the title-winning feat, it showed that the Indian style is still a force to reckon with in world hockey. Explaining the brief confrontation on the field, Pillay said the matter was resolved after the two captains had a talk and decided to treat it as a non-issue.
Responding to a question, Pillay said India always makes an extra effort whenever they face Pakistan on the field. “We play with an attitude that we can lose to any team, but not to Pakistan. Pakistan also has the same attitude against India.” The Indian captain said that both teams, when they face each other, play with full heart and give 200 percent.
This rivalry, as old as it is, ought to be harnessed for the betterment of the standard of play in both countries. The outstanding political problems should not be allowed to come in the way of opening the doors once again for exchange of visits of for the sake of playing hockey. For its involvement of higher sensitivity, cricket can wait, but nothing should come in the way of India and Pakistan playing hockey, not just at neutral venues but in each other’s country.
Dhanraj Pillay, for whom the Pakistanis have a healthy respect, as a player and as a rival, is one of the strongest advocates of renewing India-Pakistan sporting ties. Let us make a start with hockey “because this game has instant support in both countries.
There was a time when some of the best exponents of the game came from the subcontinent. In the seventies and eighties, Pakistan’s Akhtar Rasool and India’s Ajit Pal Singh had vied for the spot of the best center-half in the world. They were head and shoulders above the rest. Then came the attacking skills of Shahbaz Khan and India’s Ashok Kumar, legendary Dhyan Chand’s son. Today, it is Dhanraj Pillay who holds aloft the standard of Asian hockey, with several young players from India and Pakistan honing their skills to bring back the old supremacy of Asian hockey. There is a good chance that India will respond favorably to Pakistan’s invitation to take part in a highly-prestigious 12-nation tournament to be held in Lahore. There is no doubt that the Indian team will have many admirers in Pakistan, as of the old. If the Indian team does go over, it will be a big breakthrough in the matter of reviving sporting relations between the two countries.
The revival of sporting ties can only help facilitate normalization of political relations between the two countries. Certainly, it cannot do any harm to the efforts that are being made in that regard by the politicians on both sides. Among the easier things to work on, in an otherwise rather complex issues that are being raised, is to play hockey against each other.
