Asian Champions Trophy's most anticipated clash between India and Pakistan is set to take place at the Wisma Belia Hockey Stadium in Kuantan, Malaysia today.
The stakes are high for this crucial encounter which has generated a lot of attention owing to the fact that this will be the first on-field battle between the two Asian giants after the Uri terror attack and counter surgical strikes, which strained bilateral ties.
Here's a look at past encounters and the strengths and weaknesses of both teams.
1956 Melbourne Summer Olympics: India vs Pakistan First Hockey Encounter
India and Pakistan locked horns for the first time in the history of the sport at the Melbourne Summer Olympics on December 6, 1956. The match couldn't be any bigger as they were squaring off for the gold medal in the final.
Much to the delight of Indian fans, the men in blue held their nerves to defeat their arch-rivals 1-0 in a nail-biting encounter. India’s Randhir Singh Gentle found the back of the net in the 38th minute handing India their only medal at the Melbourne Summer Olympics.
In spite of being a part of the gold medal winning team for three consecutive Olympics (1948 London, 1952 Helsinki and 1956 Melbourne), Randhir Singh Gentle will always go down in history as the first player to score a goal in an Indo-Pak hockey match.
Stats Stacked Against India
The two neighbours have faced each other on 165 different occasions in the past six decades in which Pakistan registered 82 wins over India whereas the blue brigade managed to clinch 53 matches, and 30 encounters ended in a draw. But what gives India a major boost is the fact that their recent track record against the men in green is noteworthy.
In the last 25 matches played between both the sides since 2010, India managed to win 10 encounters with eight going in favour of Pakistan and the remaining seven ending in a draw.
The last time the two teams took on each other was way back in April 2016 when the Indian side dismantled the Pakistan defence, recording a massive 5-1 win with goals coming from Manpreet Singh, S V Sunil (2), Talvinder Singh and Rupinderpal Singh.
Biggest Wins For India And Pakistan Against Each Other
India has overpowered Pakistan in the past, with their biggest victories coming on two occasions. The first was at the 2003 Champions Trophy, Amstelveen on August 22 and second at the 2010 Commonwealth Games, Delhi on October 10. In both the matches, India pipped Pakistan 7-4.
On the other hand, Pakistan has beaten India with a huge scoreline of 7-1 twice in their decades-long battles on the field. On January 3, 1980 at the Champions Trophy in Karachi, the greens flattened India 7-1, a result that repeated again at the 1982 Asian Games in New Delhi on December 1.
Pakistan's legendary defender and penalty corner specialist Sohail Abbas holds an impressive record of scoring 55 goals against India whereas the tally of India's highest scorer against Pakistan, Sandeep Singh, is 21 goals.
2014 Champions Trophy Semis: Pakistan team's post-win antics leave a bad taste
Be it cricket, football, kabbadi or any other sport, there is always high tension when India and Pakistan are on the same field, and hockey is no different.
In the past, players of both India and Pakistan teams have been involved in a lot of on-field altercations. The most famous one occurred after the 2014 Champions Trophy semis held in Bhubaneswar. Pakistan were playing in front of a jam-packed stadium filled with thousands of Indian supporters.
The match was a keenly contested one in which Pakistan overcame India 4-3 in a see-saw battle. An elated Pakistan side celebrated their victory by taking off their jerseys and hurling indecent remarks and obscene gestures towards the Indian crowd.
India was not pleased with their rivals' over-the-top celebration, which led to a lot of heat, forcing the International Hockey Federation (FIH) to intervene. The FIH slapped Pakistani players Amjad Hussain and Tauseeq Ahmed with a one match ban for their misconduct.
Experienced Indians vs Young Pakistanis
Despite the absence of senior players SV Sunil, midfielder Manpreet Singh and drag flicker VR Raghunath, India has a great mix of young blood and experienced powerhouses with the likes of Sardar Singh, Chinglensana Singh, Rupinder Pal Singh, Kothajit Singh and skipper P R Sreejesh.
Defending champs Pakistan are playing with a young and vibrant team led by stand-in skipper Fareed Ahmad. Pakistan will definitely feel the absence of their skipper Mohammad Irfan who had to miss out on this tournament due to passport retrieval issue. About 10 of their players who were a part of the 2013 Asian Champions Trophy winning team are absent from the current squad.
India comes into the game with a smashing 10-2 win over Japan followed by a 1-1 draw against South Korea. Pakistan, on the other hand, had a bad start to the tournament losing to hosts Malaysia 4-2 in their opener. They then managed to bounce back with a narrow 1-0 win over South Korea.
This Time It’s More Than Just A Hockey Match
A month ago, India skipper P R Sreejesh made a statement that the men in blue won’t disappoint the Indian soldiers who have been sacrificing their lives in the exchange of fire at the borders. Goes to show how much this match means to the Indian team. Emotions are sure to run high during the course of the match, and one hopes it does not get the better of India's game.
Team India
Forwards: Talwinder Singh, Ramandeep Singh, Lalit Kumar Upadhyay, Nikkin Thimmaiah, Affan Yousuf
Midfielders: Chinglensana Singh Kangujam, Akashdeep Singh, Sardar Singh, S.K Uthappa, Devindar Walmiki
Defenders: Rupinder Pal Singh, Pardeep Mor, Jasjit Singh Kular, Birendra Lakra, Kothajit Singh, Surender Kumar
Goalkeepers: P R Sreejesh (C), Akash Chikte
Head Coach: Roelant Oltmans
Team Pakistan
Forwards: Mohammad Irfan junior, Umar Bhutta, Arslan Qadir, Ali Shan, Ejaz Ahmad, Mohammad Rizwan senior, Abdul Haseem Khan
Midfielders: Rashid Mahmood, Tasawar Abbas, Nawaz Ashfaq, Fareed Ahmad (C), Toseeq Arshad, Mohammad Rizwan Junior
Defenders: Aleem Bilal, Ammad Shakeel Butt
Goalkeepers: Imran Butt and Amjad Ali
Head Coach: Khawaja Junaid
Millions of people across both the countries will be glued to their TV sets today to catch the intense action. Will India overpower their arch-rivals or will Pakistan prove to everyone why they are the defending champs, one will definitely have to wait and see. Whatever the outcome may be, a mouthwatering clash is definitely awaiting.
Match starts at 4 Pm (IST)