CHENNAI: Three of the hottest ticketed events are set to hit Chennai over the next few days. There is an AR Rahman concert, Marakkuma Nenjam, this Saturday. On Thursday, Rajinikanth's new film, 'Jailer', is set to hit screens. Kicking off the triple bill, though, is the India vs Pakistan encounter at the Asian Champions Trophy on Wednesday.
The priciest tickets disappeared from the box office outside the Mayor Radhakrishnan Stadium days ago. Online tickets were gobbled up like candy at a kids' only birthday party. After their respective assignments on Monday night, players from both camps spoke about the very specific excitement such a clash elicits.
But while that may be true in cricket, an India vs Pakistan clash in hockey stopped being a contest a long time ago. Sure, it's a good time for people to talk about a sepia-toned past when both teams were flawed but good; when they used to dictate terms to the Europeans and the Australians. These days, though, this match usually serves as a reminder of that glorious past. In 2014, for instance.
The last time these two sides met in a consequential game on Indian soil, it descended into mayhem. The setting was the Champions Trophy semifinals in Bhubaneswar. The hosts took an early lead but the visitors scored a very late equaliser to shock the crowd into silence.
It finished with some members of the Green Shirts showing their fingers to the crowd. Some journalists got involved in an altercation with at least one member of the Pakistan support staff. The gesture resulted in a few Pakistan players being suspended for the final. The lingering tension hung in the air well into 2015.
These days? There's next to no tension because there genuinely has been no jeopardy. The main reason for that is both the teams have travelled in diametrically opposite directions post that madcap two hours in Bhubaneswar.
It was the last time Pakistan picked up a medal at an FIH event. For India, while they failed to collect a medal that night, they used that defeat to pick up a multitude of gongs over the next seven years, including at the Tokyo Games.
The rivalry is now so one-sided it really ought to be an undercard and not the main event it's still touted to be. Save the South Asian Games in 2016 when India sent a developmental squad, that was the last time they were beaten by Pakistan.
Since then, they have routinely wiped the floor (look at the table). It's why Mandeep Singh is firmly tongue-in-cheek when he referred to 'revenge' for that night in Odisha. "I was injured (during the 2014 Champions Trophy)," he says. "Of course, I watched the game and what happened. We have taken our revenge for that a few times since," he smiles. Mandeep is one of many who has enjoyed success against an often flaky Pakistan backline.
However, the forward is refusing to crystal ball this game based on the recent past. If anything, he justifies the hype this match has received.
"It's always an exciting game, I'm looking forward to it. If we give 100 per cent in other games, against Pakistan we give 200 per cent. This is happening on home soil as well, so we need to ensure that we win this game. We have beaten them often in the last few years, but that doesn't matter now. We have to stick to our structure, and our plans, and play well. Pakistan wants to win, India wants to win."
So why have both nations been on opposite ends of the spectrum after such furious meetings nine years ago (months before the Champions Trophy, India beat Pakistan in the penalty shoot-out at the 2014 Asian Games final to qualify for the Olympics)? India became a sort of permanent address for men's international hockey while Pakistan struggled to make ends meet.
Rehan Butt summed it up perfectly in 2018 when he was here as part of the backroom staff. "There are no players coming in from the big cities like Lahore and Karachi," he had said. "Even our national championships are of little use as departments don't have good players. It is a thankless task."
Butt, who is in Chennai as part of a similar set-up in 2023, is even more intimate now. He says both teams don't even exist in the same pincode anymore.
"India is ranked 4th in the world, Pakistan are 16th," he points out. "Our match right now is not at all against them. If these young boys go out there, fight and stand equal against India, that is a win for us as coaches. Pressure? Nobody expects these boys to win against India. They will go out and play attacking hockey, play with freedom, and hopefully give India a scare."
'Marakkuma Nenjam' can loosely be translated to 'Will the heart forget?' In the context of India-Pakistan battles, the heart seldom forgets but the reality of the situation is that the modern framing of the rivalry exists more in the heart than on the field. Expect something similar on the shiny blue turf come 8.15 PM on Wednesday.
Asian Champions Trophy points table.