Asian Games 2023 | Strong, accurate, lethal: How India hockey gave Pakistan a 10-2 drubbing

With four goals against Pakistan in the Pool A match on September 30, 2023, Harmanpreet Singh led from the front, and was also freeman, attacking midfielder, defender, all in one concise role. (Illustration by Suneesh K.)

On a humid September 30 evening, underneath darkened skies, the Indian hockey team went in to play a Pool A match against Pakistan, wielding scythes instead of the usual graphite sticks. In 60 minutes of mayhem, a bloodless battle, not only were records rewritten, historical and psychological markers were reset.

In a game where flair, finesse, skill came together like never before, Harmanpreet Singh’s boys, played with great panache. On the face of it, the 10-2 score-line for India makes it out to be like driving a Maserati on an empty 2am street. Yet, it was far from that. Irrespective of the sport, when you play against an eleven, you still need to put in the yards, be on top of your game – and India was exactly that: Strong, unwieldy, accurate, and above all, lethal. It was a game where no prisoners would be taken.

In a game of large margins, the perfect set-up is a must. Adequate pressure, the right loading of players in the middle and in the front, plus to keep it boarded up in the defence. It was the kind of evening that would have started with a plan for Pakistan, then come down to keeping the margin low and later, like a tired boxer hanging on the ropes, welcoming the knock-out blow, willing the torment to pass; the night itself stretching, unfolding into one of the worst nightmares for Pakistan hockey.

India punched from the start. Aerials that homed in like radio signals, a fluent midfield, the pressure from the flanks and the unsettling pace of Mandeep, Sukhjeet, and Abhishek, sliced through a harried Pak defence.

With goals from Mandeep and Harmanpreet giving India a 2-0 lead in the first quarter, Pakistan had two choices – cut the pace of the game, keep possession, or hit India with pace. They took the second choice, in retrospect, the wrong choice. Pace usually comes with control and Pakistan, despite sublime skills, didn’t have the focus or the control to understand the situation. Despite leading, India rotated at the back, refusing to release the ball unless a channel materialized. Another two goals in the second quarter ensured a 4-0 lead for India. In the last ten matches played between the sides, India had won eight with two drawn and the highest margin was 4-0 twice.

Four goals in the first two quarters had softened Pakistan. Despite the gap in quality, Pakistan is a resilient lot and as is in our part of the world, most India vs Pakistan encounters are driven by nationalism and a desire to preserve dignity in the face of extreme adversity.

Early in the afternoon, unknown to the hockey team, the stage had been set by the men’s squash team that beat Pakistan 2-1 in the team championship gold medal match. Abhay Singh, clawed himself out of a crevice, facing matchball against Noor Zaman, at 8-10 and then won four consecutive points for a sensational 12-10, fifth set win. But what Saurav Ghosal, senior statesman, mentor and who won the second singles to keep India in the running, said later actually happened on the hockey pitch. “I take that out of the equation (India vs Pak) so that I have clarity in what I need to do, the way I need to play and be as clinical as possible.”

Ice-man Harmanpreet Singh, always calm under pressure, was a notch up against Pakistan. With four goals, he not only led from the front, but was also freeman, attacking midfielder, defender, all in one concise role. The rest all kept the rivalry out of the picture, cut out the hype and played, assumingly with whale-like heart beats.

By the end of Quarter 3, Pakistan stared at a 2-7 deficit. They were struggling to keep their structure as India weaved in and out with ease. Skipper of the side Muhammad Umar Bhutta, a highly creative midfielder, must have felt like a raft on a stormy sea. Without adequate support upfront, Bhutta’s passes were just spent shell casings. Pakistan had eight penalty corners compared to seven for India, which makes the match not as one-sided as it looks.

It was a similar story in 1982 at the Asian Games final when Pakistan beat India 7-1 in front of more than 30,000 fans at Delhi’s National Stadium, now the Dhyan Chand stadium. Pakistan, that Delhi wintry afternoon, converted one out of 7 PCs: India none out of 10. Pakistan had nine shots at goal, scoring six. India had 11 shots at goal, scoring once.

Sport is nothing without its revenge theories. Many fans who have lived with the thought of that '82 Asian Games final 1-7 spanking at the hands of Pakistan would feel a sense of relief. Yet, the takeaway from this display at Hangzhou is of a team riding the waves. Art, craftiness, and guile, flowing out of their sticks, the 10-2 scoreline, almost bordering on the fiction, look again and it might read like an exaggerated tale. But it is as real as real can be.