Pak and India bilateral series – A hope for revival of past glory
Pakistan and India, the two neighbouring countries and arch-rivals, are working to organise a bilateral hockey series at the earliest.
The two neighbours were the real giants of hockey in the past and produced many historic, names including Shahbaz Senior, Sohail Abbas, Dhyan Chand, Balbir Singh, Dilip Tirkey, Hassan Sardar, Samiullah Khan and Waseem Ahmad.
Pakistan and India used to play hockey against each other on regular basis in order to remain fit for the mega events and to learn modern skills, besides providing wide-ranging entertainment to hockey fans.
The sports relationships between the two countries have been in limbo for last two years after the Mumbai Terror attacks. However, the historic semi-final of ICC World Cup between the two nations eased the tensions and both PMs agreed to restore their bilateral
ties in all walks of life, particularly in the sports. The visit of the Pakistani Prime Minister, Syed Yousaf Raza Gillani, to India to witness the cricket semi-final and meet the counter-part, played vital role in resumption of the dialogues.
Asif Bajwa, the Secretary of the Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF), is quite optimistic for the bilateral series and hoped that it would play pivotal role in strengthening the sport in the region. According to the media reports, Narinder Batra, the Secretary
General of Hockey India (HI) and Asif Bajwa held a conversion to discuss the modalities of the two-nation series.
A bilateral series is direly needed in the region, as it would not only reinforce the base of the sport, but will also bring financial benefits for the players and as well as for the federations. The competition between India and Pakistan are always thrilling
for hockey lovers across the two countries.
Bajwa while speaking to the media said that the matters pertaining to the bilateral series would be settled with a mutual understanding of the two federations. They are in contact with their counterpart hockey bodies in a bid to regain the past glory of
the sport, he added. He explained that Pakistan will play a series in India while India will visit Pakistan to play hockey.
The PHF Secretary stated that the series is likely to be organised in the last quarter of the current year or first quarter of 2012. The two federations are working to finalise the matter, pertaining to venues and dates.
He believed that the two neighbouring countries through learning techniques from each other could raise the level of hockey in the sub-continent.
Bajwa stated, “ Both the teams are rich in natural promise and talent of hockey and players have inbuilt hockey technique which distinct them from other hockey nations and their interaction in the hockey fields on regular basis can bring back hockey lost
glory to this region.”
According to the board officials, further progress on the bilateral series is expected on sidelines in the meeting of the Asian Hockey Federations scheduled to be held during the Azlan Shah Hockey Cup.
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