India's Rise, Pakistan's Fall: A Study In Contrast Of Two Yesteryear Hockey Giants

The Harmanpreet Singh-led Men In Blue notched up India's fifth Asian Champions Trophy title after edging out spirited hosts China in the final. Pakistan, on the other hand, just about managed to clinch bronze after overcoming South Korea in the third-place match.

Every sub-continental sports lover is aware of India and Pakistan's yesteryear dominance in world hockey. But here's the present reality: India are taking steps in the right direction with back-to-back Olympic medals and a consistent top-five spot in the FIH (International Hockey Federation) rankings. Pakistan have slumped beyond recognition, missing Olympic qualification for three straight editions and ranking well outside the top 10 in recent times.

To give new-age readers some context to just steep Pakistan hockey's fall has been, let us share some comparative facts about the 'Green Shirts'.

Top To Bottom At World Cups

Pakistan are the only team in the world to have claimed four Hockey World Cup titles. They were also the first team to win the World Cup without losing or drawing a single game, and once had the highest goal difference of 31, a record which still stands today. In fact, even the idea of the World Cup is reported to have been conceived by Pakistan.

At the Mexico Olympic Games in 1968, Pakistan bagged their second men's hockey gold after first snaring it in 1960. In those days, Pakistani news outlet Tribune reports, the Olympics were strictly an amateur event and professional sportspersons were not allowed to compete.

Due to this, the sponsorship we see these days at the Olympics was lacking, making it an economically unfeasible affair for the host nation. On the sidelines of the 1968 Olympics, there were suggestions about dropping some of the team sports, the report adds.

At this juncture, the then Pakistan Hockey Federation president, the late Air Marshal Nur Khan, is said to have told the FIH: “Hockey has to have a World Cup to increase people's interest in the game. One quadrennial global tournament at the Olympics is not sufficient.”

FIH accepted Pakistan's proposal, and, the story goes, Pakistan also donated the World Cup trophy made of gold, silver, ivory and teakwood.

Cut to 2023 and Odisha, which is when and where the last World Cup was held, and Pakistan did not even figure in the list of qualified teams for the marquee event.

The downfall has been incessant. In the first eight editions of the Word Cup, Pakistan won the title four times and finished second twice. Since 1994, however, they have failed to advance to the semi-finals even once, and did not qualify for the tournament in 2014 and 2023, apart from finishing 12th among 16 teams in 2018.

Olympic Heyday

Pakistan's past hegemony was not limited to World Cups alone. Just like India, their arch-rival neighbours too have a rich history in the sport at the Olympics. While India have a whopping eight men's hockey gold medals to their name at the Summer Games, Pakistan have three gold of their own (1960, 1968 and 1984), in addition to three silver (1956, 1964 and 1972), and two bronze medals (1976 and 1992).

Pakistan made their debut in international hockey in 1948, and from then until 1985, they were never out of the top four at the Olympics or the World Cup, which is the best record for any nation in the sport at that period. In the nine Olympic editions in that period, the country has three gold, as many silver, one bronze and one fourth-place finish to its name.

Such was the teams' influence that notes from Pakistan’s legendary hockey player Abdul Waheed Khan helped Argentina win the 1978 FIFA World Cup! The footballing giants' then head coach Cesar Luis Menotti met Waheed, who introduced the former to the concept of ‘double attack', wherein the team launches an attack from the right side to concentrate the opposition on that flank, only to switch the attack from the left side.

Menotti was told to utilise his wingers and defeat the opponent’s attack from the centre, and he took the advice to heart, guiding the Albiceleste to their first-ever World Cup triumph.

Considered in the above context, Pakistan's present state in hockey is deplorable, and the team is not just in a state of transition but also faces severe funding challenges. The degree of the money crunch can be gauged from the fact that the members of the bronze-earning Asian Champions Trophy team will receive a paltry reward of 100 US dollars (approximately 28,000 Pakistani rupees) each for their efforts.