Sardar Feels Revival Of Pak-India Rivalry Can Benefit Both Countries

Sardar feels revival of Pak-India rivalry can benefit both countries

Worried over the declining national game in the country, former captain Hasan Sardar believes revival of Pakistan-India hockey rivalry can benefit both countries.

ISLAMABAD, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 6th Dec, 2018 ) :Worried over the declining national game in the country, former captain Hasan Sardar believes revival of Pakistan-India hockey rivalry can benefit both countries.

He said the biggest disadvantage for us was that we couldn't play international matches at home. "But there are places like Muscat where plenty of Pakistanis live and can travel to easily. So, we need to play more and more matches there" he said.

Sardar said, "We don't have a problem in playing at neutral venues". "We are ready to play in India and if India doesn't want to travel to Pakistan we can play at a neutral venue," he said.

Hasan Sardar while talking about the current state of the sport in the country said that Pakistan was struggling for survival now and Sardar, who lead them to an Olympic gold, says even he would have been driven to play cricket given the current state of the sport in the country.

Sardar, part of the Pakistan hockey team that won the 1982 World Cup and 1984 Olympic gold, feels the rise of cricket and due to the unprofessional attitude of the Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) has led to hockey's slow demise.

"There is no hockey culture in the country now. People are more into cricket and follow cricket more. I think that if I was a kid now with talent in hockey, I would prefer playing cricket than hockey.

People are charmed by cricket," economictimes.com quoted Sardar as saying.

Hasan Sardar, who's in India as the manager of the team participating in the World Cup, said Pakistan hockey has failed to produce talent that can influence youngsters to the sport. "Now kids want to become a hero and they want role models. Hockey doesn't have any such heroes at the moment till we start winning," he said.

Pakistan, ranked 13th in the world, has a rich history in hockey having won three Olympic gold medals and a record four World Cup titles. But the team has been in poor form for over a decade now.

"Our federation is facing plenty of problems. If the federation is in trouble, then the players and coaches all will suffer. We also lost coach Roelant (Oltmans) because of this reason," he said.

He said we need to work on grassroots level and give importance to (the sport) at the school and college levels. There is no grassroots hockey in Pakistan. There are a handful of academies and no domestic hockey is happening except for the National Championship. The fault lies with the federation."Pakistan's participation at the World Cup was in doubt over lack of funds and only a last-minute intervention by a sponsor made the trip possible. The company stepped in to cover the team's expenses at the World Cup.