India vs Pakistan: Quick history of the most-anticipated hockey game

Three months after India and Pakistan met in the cricket field for the T20 World Cup, the storied rivals will once again take on each other, this time on the hockey field when they clash in the last round robin encounter of the ongoing Asian Champions Trophy on Saturday.

The arch-rivals have a storied history in the hockey field as well with countless memorable encounters down the years. Although in recent history, India have the upper hand and start as favourites on Saturday, Pakistan have also been in top form lately and will look to trouble Harmanpreet Singh and Co.

Here’s some of the newsworthy encounters these two teams have given the fans over the years:

India hands Pakistan a 10-2 thrashing (2023)

In their last meeting, India totally dominated their neighbours when they recorded their biggest win against Pakistan with a scoreline that read 10-2 after the dust had settled in their Hangzhou Asian Games clash. India skipper Harmanpreet smashed four goals while Varun Kumar struck twice. Mandeep Singh, Sumit, Shamsher Singh and Lalit Kumar Upadhyay also got on the score sheet. In reply, Pakistan scored through Muhammad Khan and Abdul Rana.

The legendary comeback (2003)

The 2003 Champions Trophy clash between the two teams will be remembered for one man who went by the name of Jugraj Singh. A player who troubled the legendary Sohail Abbas throughout the match etched his name in history when he scored two goals for his team as India went on to win 7-4. Such was the defensive pressure from Jugraj that Abbas, looking exasperated, had turned to coach Tahir Zaman and asked: “kahan feku? Seedha aa raha hai (where should I flick? He is coming straight at me). With 21 mins to go, Pakistan were winning 2-4 with India’s two goals coming through Jugraj. After that, the Indian frontline charged into the match with Deepak Thakur and Gagan Ajit Singh both scoring a brace and Prabhot Singh scoring once which helped India a legendary encounter.

The middle-finger fiasco (2014)

One of the most heated incidents in the recent history of India vs Pakistan hockey took place almost 10 years ago when back in the 2014 Champions Trophy semifinal, Pakistan players went on to dance wildly, hurl abuses and make obscene gestures like raising middle-finger at the crowd in Bhubaneshwar after beating India 4-3. As a result, two Pakistani players Amjad Ali and Mohammad Tousiq were not allowed to play the final and were suspended while a player Shafaqt Rasool was reprimanded.

PR Sreejesh’s shootout heroics (2014)

Legendary goalie PR Sreejesh who recently retired after helping India win a Bronze Medal in the recently concluded Paris Olympics, had already written his name in the history books when his heroics helped India defeat Pakistan way back in 2014 at the Asian Games final. India would win 4-2 in the shoot-off after scores were 1-1 at the end of full time, which would be their first major hockey gold since 1998 in Bangkok — also the Asiad. Sreejesh made two very crucial saves in the encounter and would go on to become one of the most decorated icons in Indian sports.

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