BASICALLY I did not plan to write this week. There is hardly any point in writing halfway through a tournament when one knows that by the time the lines get into print, the outcome of the championship would almost be settled. But the team’s performance in its first three outings have forced me to put pen to paper regardless of what ultimately happens.
At the time of writing, Pakistan has yet to play its matches against Germany and India, and stands a fair chance to play the final and have a shot at the gold, but for that we will have to wait a little. Win or lose, the team has not disgraced itself at the championship and, being here in Holland for the FIH Rules Board meeting, I can tell you that the team has won many a friend with its performances, specially the one that it delivered against the host nation.
It is so heartening to see the two wingers — Shabbir and Rehan — making an impact on the game and doing it consistently. With their pace, control and flowing movement, they have been a source of constant threat to the defence units of Australia, Argentina and Holland.
When the team floundered its huge lead repeatedly in its first two matches, it was a matter of great anguish for the lovers of Pakistan hockey, and the general feeling among the past and present professionals who have gathered here from various parts of the world was that while the forward line is moving well, the defence was still not up to the mark, and that overall, Pakistan will end up somewhere in the lower half.
There was little to defend the team, really. After all, it had allowed Australia back into the game after being 0-2, 1-3 and 2-4 down to make it 4-4 and earn a precious point and depriving Pakistan of what would have been a well-deserved clean sweep of three points. Against Argentina, it was even more horrendous, as the opponents were no patch on the mighty Australians, and the lead was 4-0 and then 5-2 before the Argentineans made it 5-5 and were even pressing for a winner. It was only a last gasp effort by Rehan that saved the day for Pakistan.
Taking the field for the third game, there were not many who were willing to give Pakistan any chance against Holland, which, in the meantime, had beaten India 4-3 and Australia 5-2. The best that was expected of Pakistan was that it will threaten Holland in phases, but the Dutch forwards will get enough space to make merry in the Pakistan half.
The first ten minutes of play, in fact, only confirmed the expectation. But the turnaround by the Pakistan players from then on surprised everyone. That they were able to sustain that pressure for the duration of the match without any letup was a matter of even more surprise. And for me, and I am sure millions like me around the world, no surprise could be more pleasant than that.
Most of the foreigners here kept waiting that sooner or later Pakistan defence will crumble, but it never did. There were many who doubted that Pakistani forwards will be able to keep running with their frenetic pace in the last 10-15 minutes of the game, but they kept doing it. When they were 1-2 down with around ten minutes to go, there was hardly a soul there willing to give Pakistan a chance to equalize, but they did just that. And when Kashif Jawad was shown the door and Pakistan was reduced to ten men with six minutes to go, a Dutch winner was what everybody was looking forward to, but it never came. In fact, Pakistan continued to press on, contrary to the general expectation that it would prefer to defend.
Pakistan was certainly the better team on the day, and that was a sight to behold. I decided to write this unscheduled column in the spirit of enjoying those moments with the readers.
BASICALLY I did not plan to write this week. There is hardly any point in writing halfway through a tournament when one knows that by the time the lines get into print, the outcome of the championship would almost be settled. But the team’s performance in its first three outings have forced me to put pen to paper regardless of what ultimately happens.
