An India-Pakistan game is one of the most anticipated contests in hockey. It incites the imagination to warlike behaviour by players and fans, creating an enthralling delirium. In such situations play shifts from the sublime to the ridiculous, but it is the drama that excites the imagination, not the tactics or skills. The rivalry is woven into the DNA of these two talented hockey nations, who seem to reserve their best for one another.
Partition created multifarious rivalries between the two sibling nations. In sport, it was most evident in hockey and cricket. Players who left India for Pakistan were to form the nucleus of the Pakistani hockey team. Suddenly, former comrades who had, together, enjoyed medal moments in the Olympics, had to duel on the playing field. In the aftermath of partition, it would have been difficult to sanitise sport from the politics.
India-Pakistan hockey rivalry incites the imagination to warlike behaviour by players and fans. Hockey India
The India-Pakistan contestation over ideas permeates hockey. Success over the other is used to validate the organising principles of state. Hockey brings such emotion into the contest that the sporting aspect becomes secondary. It helps that in purely sporting terms the rivalry has been a real one: Pakistan has won 82 games, India 57, with 30 games drawn.
This perpetual encounter is even storied beyond the shores of India or Pakistan. Take Britain, the mother of modern hockey. The venerable Lords cricket ground hosted an India-Pakistan game in 1967, being televised live on BBC, something without precedent for hockey at that time. The BBC said of India’s victory over Pakistan in the 2003 Asia Cup finals: “As well as being bitter political and military rivals, Pakistan and India are fierce competitors in the sporting arena, where hockey and cricket clashes always arouse fierce emotions.”
Victory over the rival squeezes the emotion out, into expressions of pure joy, or intense patriotism. Gurbux Singh, after India won the 1964 Tokyo Olympics finals, said: “tears came to my eyes when the Indian flag rose.” The other side of the coin is PR Sreejesh, who once famously said that his blood boils at the thought of playing Pakistan.
Former Indian coach Roelant Oltmans always reminded his players to stick to the plan and stay calm; the team handling its nerves better would win. In the 2014 Champions Trophy semi-finals, the Indians forgot this advice, to be edged out of the contest in the dying moments. Pakistan suffered the same fate in the 2014 Asian Games and 2016 Asian Champions Trophy finals, which The Dawn newspaper attributed to a “psychological barrier.”
The sport is also for political statements to make. Overenthusiastic celebrations by Pakistani players after victory in the 2014 Champions Trophy shut the door on Pakistani participation in bilateral games or the Hockey India League. At the Azlan Shah 2017 tournament in Ipoh, a Malaysian source revealed that India had pulled out of the 2017 Sultan of Johor Cup, because Pakistan had been invited.
Solidarity in times of frayed relations is telling. Sreejesh termed victory over Pakistan in the 2016 Asian Champions Trophy a Diwali gift to the martyrs of Uri. At the 2017 World League Semi-Finals, Indian players wore black bands on their arms to honour Indian soldiers killed in terrorist attacks. Did the Indians score psychological points with such one-upmanship?
In such a combustible atmosphere, everybody loves the Kabuki. Thus, the contest excites the world of hockey as no other, helping market the sport. The India-Pakistan game in the 2017 Hockey World League Semi-Finals in London was marketed by Hockey England with the headline: “Sunday 18 June sees old rivals India and Pakistan go head to head.” This “huge day for sport” had the game sell the second-highest priced tickets.
Paradoxically, infrequent meetings have fuelled the “mystery” factor, an additional attraction. The two teams met in the Hockey Men’s World League Semi-Finals at London for the first time after the Asian Champions Trophy in 2016, billed the tournament’s marquee game.
With India surging ahead in economic strength and international influence, will this rivalry lose its cutting edge? As Pakistan has got embroiled in internal problems, India has quietly found a way forward through a successful soft power branding. The years of cross-border terrorism originating from Pakistan are the ones when India has made it count economically.
In this context, India has developed a good hockey infrastructure. Hockey India follows due process to elect its managers. In contrast, it is the president who nominates the president of the Pakistan Hockey Federation. With limited funds, the Pakistanis declined a wildcard for the 2016 Men’s Champions Trophy.
So, will economics trump politics in the Asia Cup game on 15 October? History favours Pakistan, and form favours India. But form has seldom determined outcomes between these famous rivals. The simmering emotions may resurface in unpredictable ways. Who will maintain the Buddha-like calm that might secure a victory?
Jitendra Nath Misra is a former ambassador, and the vice- president of Jawaharlal Nehru Hockey Tournament Society.
Published Date: Oct 14, 2017 03:30 pm | Updated Date: Oct 14, 2017 03:30 pm
