Friendship
remained the main theme of the hockey series between India
and Pakistan as the teams contested with a splendid spirit.
The series, played after five years and won 4-2 by Pakistan,
was'a huge step in the effort to revive the game in the
two countries where hockey players often complain of step-motherly
treatment.
If the spectator response was any indication, the game
of hockey has a future, provided it is marketed properly.
Acouple of venues in pakistan carried tremendous warrnth
for the player.In response the opening encounter at Delhi
evoked such a poor "turn out that Rehan Butt was
compelled to make a comment on it. "We expected a
packed house (at the National Stadium) but it was disappointing,"he
said.
Butt was in for a pleasant surprise at Chandigarh and
Amritsar when organisers had a tough time in series.controlling
the crowd.
At Chandigarh, the gates were shut a an hour before the
match and Amritsar witnessed a similar reaction, not to
forget Hyderabad.
The overflowing stands at these venues confirmed that
hockey continues to be a popular sport. It did not really
matter who won.Pakistan had an agenda of testing its depth
- and India, too, was concentrating on experiments in
the ranks.
The seniors had been rested in some cases and axed in
some but the emphasis was clearly on identifying the talent
for the future.
Essentially, the series was a testing ground for the two
teams as Pakistan looked forward to the Champions Trophy.
India, gaining a berth following Australia's withdrawal,
too, benefited from the the Even though the focus was
on Sohail Abbas, who achieved the good half distinction
of becoming the highest individual scorer in the history
of the game, surpassing Paul Litjens' mark of 267 goals,
there was one player, who made a significant mark on the
series with his consistency under the bar. For Adrian
D'Souza, it was a memorable series and as Dilip Tirkey
pointed out, for India the performance of the goalkeeper
was the biggest gain from the eight matches.
The trend of the series became known in the Pakistan leg
when the home team won two of the four matches at Karachi
(2-1) and Peshawar (3-2). The contest at Peshawar was
lively with India nullifying Pakistan's 2-0 lead before
succumbing to the mercurial Abbas' accuracy.
The Indians won the hearts of thePakistani fans with a
sterling display in the second match at Quetta, winning
4-1. It was a stunning result. A repeat was in store at
Lahore when India led 4-2 with 13 minutes to go but it
conceded ground and allowed Pakistan to end up on even
terms.
When the hockey caravan travelled to India, the expectations
were high. Veteran players from either side were, however,
disappointed at the mediocre fare, barring the last encounter
at Hyderabad when India's young talent came to the fore
with Tushar Khandekar and Prabhod Tirkey giving an outstanding
display.
India began with a defeat at Delhi in a poor match. A
draw at Chandigarh kept the series alive but Pakistan
clinched it with a win at Amritsar. The match was marked
by Abbas' grand achievement when his drag flick crashed
through the net and left the umpires in a confused state
before the technical bench gave its approval.
'In the last match, the teams played hockey that
was close to their heart - short passes and moves on the
wings. But the quality of the competition on most other
occasions left a lot to be desired. Pakistan was clearly
the better team but India could draw immense pride from
Adrian D'Souza being declared the Player of the Series.'
Results
& Goalscorers of the eight-Test series |
| Date |
Venue |
score |
Result |
Scorers |
| 24-09-04
|
Hockey
Club of Pakistan, Karachi |
2-1
|
Won
|
A.Halappa/Sohail,Rehan |
| 27-09-04 |
General
Musa Stadium, Quetta |
4-1
|
Lost
|
S.Singh(2)TirkeyTKhandekar/Sohail |
| 29-09-04 |
Lala
Ayub Stadium, Peshawar |
3-2
|
Won
|
H.Prasad,A.Halappa/Mudassar,Sohail |
| 01-10-04 |
National
Hockey Stadium, Lahore |
4-4 |
Drawn
|
V.Pillai,
S.Singh, A.Halappa, |
| |
|
|
|
I.Tirkey/Sohail
(2),A.Ali,Rehan |
| 4-01-04 |
Dhyan
Chand Stadium, New Delhi |
|
|
S.Michael/K.Jawwad,Sohail
(2) |
| 06-10-04 |
Sector-42
Stadium, Chandigarh |
|
|
I.Tirkey
/Ghazanfar |
| 08-10-04 |
Guru
Nanak Dev Stadium, Amritsar |
|
|
A.Halappa
/ Sohail,Rehan |
| 10-10-04 |
SPS
Gachibowli, Hyderabad |
|
|
S.Michael,
T. Khandekar |
| |
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
