Hockey World League: It's time for the India vs Pakistan humdinger
Hockey World League: It's time for the India vs Pakistan humdinger
India beat Pakistan in the Asian Games Final, Pakistan beat India in the Champions Trophy semis. What will happen tomorrow as the archrivals meet at Hockey World League in Belgium - 1930 IST.

Asian Games Final: India 4 - 2 Pakistan; Champions Trophy Semis: India 3 - 4 Pakistan.

That's the recent history of hockey's greatest rivalry that matches none other in the game. Like cricket, there is no Ashes in hockey to give the Indo-Pak duel a run for its money. And the Friday blockbuster at Antwerp will be no different.

Perhaps, it's the same across all sports when it's India vs Pakistan. But the rush of adrenaline hockey manages to produce is unmatched. That makes this humdinger on the astro-turf stand out among all sports.

Going into this Pool A game at the Hockey World League (HWL) semi-finals in Belgium, while a win-at-any-cost nature of an Indo-Pak clash will stay as is, much more is at stake for Pakistan – a lot more than there is for India.

India, on a two-match winning run, are already through to the Olympics; Pakistan aren't, and were hammered 6-1 by Australia in their last match.

A victory over Pakistan in the Asian Games final ensured India's smooth, tension-free passage to the 2016 Rio Olympics. What that meant for Pakistan is that they have to finish in top three here at the HWL semis to get a Rio ticket.

While that will be at the back of every Pakistan player on Friday, India wouldn't have forgotten what happened after the final hooter at the Champions Trophy in Bhubaneswar last year.

The show of obscenity by Pakistan players who took their shirts off and made vulgar gestures towards the crowd and media after their 4-3 win will be fresh in the mind of Indian fans and players.

That equation will only add to the animosity.

But even if nothing's there, no trophy to be won, nothing to qualify for – still an Indo-Pak encounter will stay right up there in world hockey. The dividends only add to the rivalry.

Arjun Halappa, former India captain and now a selector, has been part of many such encounters.

"India vs Pakistan, the name only tells everything," Halappa said while talking to IBNLive Sports. "For me, it's always bigger than Ashes [in cricket]."

"Emotionally, people expect us to win. Kisi se bhi haar jao, unse mat harna [lose to anyone but not the archrivals]," Halappa explained the level of die-hard engagement associated with the clash. "[But] On the field, it's different. We can't take that feeling with us on the pitch. As a team, we take it as another game."

"[I have] Lots of friends in the Pakistan team. Rehan [Butt] and Sohail [Abbas] bhai are close to me, we often meet on chat. But once on the field, you can't carry the friendship. We are opponents there," the former India forward explained.

When asked to share his biggest memory of an Indo-Pak clash he featured in, Halappa was quick to point at the 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi.

"Big memory is CWG win in Delhi, a 7-4 win again Pakistan," he said with a smile.

India don't have happy memories from their last battle with the archrivals in the Champions Trophy last December, where, as mentioned above, Pakistan's behaviour left a bad taste. But Halappa says it's past, and the best India can do is remember that they are also ambassadors of their country.

"It is past. It is bad behaviour, but not in our hands. It's their problem. As Indians, we are ambassadors of our country and should behave. At the end of the day, it's sport. You win, you lose," he said.

Surely it's sport, and surely winning and losing is part of it. But as Halappa put it aptly, the bottom line for everyone who hooks up with those 22 players on the field in an Indo-Pak clash is: Kisi se bhi haar jao, unse mat harna.

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