India & Pakistan: Champions Trophy
This is a collection of articles archived for the excellence of their content. |
Contents |
India-Pakistan:Skirmishes over Champions Trophy
Sardar Singh, December 12, 2014
Indian hockey captain Sardar Singh (2nd right) acknowledges the spectators alongwith teammates after victory over Belgium during Champions Trophy 2014 quarterfinal match at Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneswar. As India and Pakistan prepare for a mouth-watering clash in the Champions Trophy semifinals on Saturday, we bring to you the six best matches out of 17 played between the two arch-rivals in the tournament so far:-
1. Amstelveen, June 12, 1982
India 5 (Rajinder Singh 3, Gurmail Singh 1, SS Sodhi 1) beat Pakistan 4 (Hassan Sardar 2, Saeed Khan 1, Qasim Zia 1)
India's dream run and best ever finish in the tournament - third - came with a 5-4 win over Pakistan. The way India rallied after being 0-3 down by the 17th minute is talked about even today. Rajinder Singh (Sr) was the hero, scoring the country's only hat-trick in history of Champions Trophy with conversions of successive penalty corners. Saeed Khan put Pakistan ahead, Hassan Sardar made it 2-0 before Qasim Zia added to the tally. Then came the turnaround. Rajinder's first goal came in the 25th minute off the fourth of the 12 penalty corners that India got. The other two came in the 32nd and 46th minutes. Sardar made it 4-3 for Pakistan but Gurmail converted a penalty stroke and skipper Surinder Singh Sodhi struck a brilliant Zafar Iqbal solo to leave Pakistan stunned.
2. Amstelveen, August 22, 2003
India 7 (Jugraj Singh 2, Deepak Thakur 2, Prabhot Singh 1, Gagan Ajit Singh 2) beat Pakistan 4 (Rehan Butt 1, Md Nadeem 1, Mudassar Ali 1, Sohail Abbas 1)
Another amazing comeback by India was that catapulted Gagan Ajit Singh to stardom. India were trailing 2-4 with 21 minutes to go when the Indian frontline went on the rampage. Deepak Thakur (50th minute) reduced the margin and Prabhjot Singh (54th) restored parity before Gagan Ajit Singh took over with two splendid strikes, one of them a backhander, in the 60th and 62nd minutes. Deepak's goal three minutes later only added to Pakistan's misery. Who would have thought of such a dramatic change in fortunes particularly after Rehan Butt (18th), Md Nadeem (20th) and Mudassar Ali (28th) and Sohail Abbas (42nd) put them ahead 2-4. Jugraj plugged the damage to an extent early on with goals in the 24th and 35th minutes.
3. Cologne, September 8, 2002
Pakistan 4 (Mudassar Ali 2, Rehan Butt 2) beat India 3 (Gagan Ajit Singh 1, Jugraj Singh 1, Dilip Tirkey 1)
Rehan Butt studded his rise to fame by fetching Pakistan the bronze with two late goals in the 62nd and 63rd minutes, one a diving deflection that left the Indians clueless. The teams went into the breather 1-1 with Jugraj (12th) and Mudassar Ali (28th) doing the scoring. Dilip Tirkey (48th) and Gagan Ajit Singh (53rd) made it seem like a cruise in the second half with goals in a span of five minutes. But Ali (59th) reduced the margin before Butt declared that he would be India's chief tormentor in the following years.
4. Karachi, January 3, 1980
Pakistan 7 (Hanif Khan 3, Safdar Abbas 3, Mansoor-ul-Hasan 1) beat India 1 (Davinder Singh 1)
Pakistan gave India a foretaste of the 1-7 drubbing at the 1982 New Delhi Asian Games with a similar verdict in the second edition of the Champions Trophy. Like in Delhi, India were up 1-0 by the sixth minute through Davinder Singh's penalty corner conversion. Then the famed Pakistani forwardline came alive. They equalised in the 13th minute, went ahead 2-1 via Safdar Abbas in the 17th before dominating the second half with five more goals, the last three coming with just eight minutes for the hooter. Hanif Khan got a hat-trick. So did Abbas before Mansoor-ul-Hasan completed the rout with a penalty corner conversion. Kaleemullah and Samiullah were there too to trouble the Indians, much like they did at the Asiad two years later.
5. Karachi, April 6, 1986
India 3 (Tikken Singh 1, Md Shahid 1, Thoiba Singh 1) beat Pakistan 2 (Hassan Sardar 1, Qasim khan 1
Watched by around 20,000 spectators, this was one of those games which India dominated, leaving Pakistan to play catch-up. Tikken Singh put India ahead in the 30th minute but errors in the defence saw the mercurial Hassan Sardar equalise. In the second half, skipper Mohammed Shahid made it 2-1 for India but Qasim Khan helped his team draw level again with a penalty corner conversion. Then came the match-winner from Thoiba Singh, his stiff shot ending Pakistan's hopes of a victory at home.
6. Perth, November 16, 1985
India 2 (MP Singh 1, Md Shahid 1) beat Pakistan 1 (Hassan Sardar 1)
India outplayed Pakistan despite having arrived at Perth late. With little time to acclimatise they showed no signs of the travel fatigue as they took on their archrivals on the opening day. Hassan Sardar put Pakistan ahead but from then on he was marked well by Joaquim Carvalho on the midfield and MP Singh in the defence. MP Singh converted a penalty corner for India's equaliser before Mohammed Shahid fetched the match-winner.
(Stats by BG Joshi)
See also
India & Pakistan: Champions Trophy <> India & Pakistan: Cricket <>
All articles in the series on World Cup (cricket): history have a special section on India vs Pakistan matches, IF the two teams played each other during a World Cup.
