India vs Pakistan Preview and Live Score: World Cup Hockey 2010

Final Score of the match:
India has won by 4-1
World Cup Hockey is going to start from tomorrow February 28, 2010, and in the opening day arch rivals India and Pakistan are going to play against each other. This time, the event is going to take place in India and that is why millions of people of these two countries are eagerly waiting for this match. 
For live score and Updates of the match, visit this entry:
India vs Pakistan Live Updates Hockey World Cup 2010
India vs. Pakistan World Cup Hockey 2010 will start at 20:35 local time India and it will be broadcast in many TV channels right across the world.

A few weeks ago, the two countries met with each other in Argentina in Champion’s Challenge Cup. In the semi-final match, Pakistan defeated India by 6-3 goals. Before that, in May 2009, the two countries played against each other in Malaysia in Asia cup and Pakistan defeated India by 3-2 goals.  

When there is any hockey match involving the two countries then it is always a memorable event for the supporters of these two countries. It is always a huge mental pressure for the players of the both sides because there are expectations of millions of people. It does not matter what Pakistan or India does in the whole tournament but this is a must-win match for both the teams. This pressure is sometimes too much.

Both Indian and Pakistan are in pool-B in this world cup. Australia, England, Spain, and South Africa are the other remaining teams of this pool. So, a win tomorrow is not just a win over the arch rival but an important one for the pool-B. In this pool, Australia and England both are very strong teams.

If we take a look at the history of hockey world cup then we would see that Pakistan won the tournament four times; the maximum number. Pakistan won the Hockey World Cup in 1971, 1978, 1982 and 1994. However, after 1994, Pakistan failed to even reach the top four. India won the Hockey World Cup only once in 1975. So, it is exactly thirty five years that India has not won the title of any hockey world cup. After 1975, India, like Pakistan, failed to make it to the top four. Thus, Pakistan perhaps has better record in Hockey World Cup history compared to India.

This time, India is taking part in the event as the host country. On the other hand, Pakistan is taking part because of winning a qualification tournament. Pakistan qualified after playing against Japan, Poland, France, Russia and Italy. Both the two countries could not win the Asia Cup Hockey in 2009 that took place in Malaysia. In fact, in Asia Cup Hockey, it was South Korea who won the trophy. 

 There is now a lot of war-of-words between Pakistan and India camp. Pakistan’s hockey-captain, Zeeshan Ashraf stated that his players were confident that they would win the upcoming match with India that would take place at Dhanchand Stadium in New Delhi, the capital of India. The sitting capacity of the stadium is 19,000 and all the tickets have been sold. Recently, in a practice match, Pakistan drew 1-1 with Canada which upset many Pakistani hockey fans. So, the Pakistani players are now eager to show their countrymen that they can defeat their arch-rival, India.

There is same kind of optimism in Indian camp. Indian hockey team captain, Rajpal Singh, is also confident about winning the match. He is hopeful that his team would make it to the top four. If it happens then it would be an excellent thing for the Indian hockey for the sports have been struggling for quite some time. Leslie Claudius was the captain of the Indian hockey team in the Rome Olympics in 1960. He stated that if India can win tomorrow’s match then it would help them in the tournament. He is hoping to see a very competitive match.  

The relationship between India and Pakistan is not that good in the last two years. As a result, the Pakistani hockey team is kept in high-security at New Delhi. The players have been advised not to travel alone and whenever, they go out, security guards accompany them to ensure their safety. Security measures have also been taken for tomorrow’s match.

There is a lot of anger in Pakistan because last month, in the IPL auction, all the Pakistani players were left out. This matter was like an insult to the Pakistani people and they are expecting that their hockey team can take revenge for the IPL insult. On the other hand, many people in India blame Pakistan for the terrorist attack in Mumbai in November 2008 and they also want to take revenge by defeating Pakistan in tomorrow’s match.

As there is this kind of angry feelings between the two countries and the people, it is going to be a match in which, the players would become very tensed and nervous. I just hope that they do not engage into any kind of violence. I also expect to see a clean match.

If you ask me who will win the match then I have to say that India has the upper-hand because it is their home venue. However, India’s recent performance is not so good and Pakistan defeated in both the matches they played in the last one year. So, it is not clear to me who will win tomorrow’s match.

As for live coverage of the match, you can watch the matches. I am giving you the link to the entry containing the name of TV channels.

Who will win?