Events after the semi-final had turned bitter as Pakistan went overboard with their post-match celebrations. But what was clearly an over-reaction, the hosts India then went overboard with their protests, even threatening breaking hockey ties with Pakistan. The International Hockey Federation was forced to hand out bans to Pakistan players Mohammad Touseeq and Amjad Ali, who had both made rude gestures at the partisan crowd after the 4-3 win. Surprisingly, Hockey India (HI) was silent when Germany resorted to a similar mode of celebration after scoring goals in the final. HI’s bias towards Pakistan was, therefore, exposed, underscoring its lack of sportsman spirit.
Pakistan must be lauded for their display in the knockout phase after a poor show in the pool matches. In the quarter-final, Pakistan stunned the Netherlands 4-2. The European powerhouse simply wilted under the pressure applied by the rampaging forwards who after a long time succeeded in taming the giants of the game. Coach Shahnaz Shaikh’s call to his players before the match to fight till the very end for the sake of the sport’s survival in the country, seemed to do the trick. The players responded brilliantly and the subsequent results have provided great joy to the nation. This performance is just the tonic that hockey in the country needed. It is now imperative for the administrators to build on this success and ensure that the players are duly rewarded.
Published in The Express Tribune, December 16th, 2014.
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Haha, I can only laugh at it. Instead of sound planning and building the team from bottom to top and increasing participation at ground level, the author has tried to use emotion as the driving force to win a match. While this may work, once in a while, it will fail to give a long term solution. Is everything run on emotional black mailing of its people. Is the nation of Iqbal lost all is senses? Wakeup guys India is NOT, your enemy, it's your friend, may be in disguise.
No doubt pakistani hockey team played better in champions trophy but their ill-behavior helped them win many haters than lovers.... & bring their country to handle a diplomatic fiasco.
Keeping the above in view, i think BCCI will continue to exclude pakistani cricketers from IPL tournament.. and continue to hold the bilateral series!