26th February 2006: Rajinder Singh Jr. ‘s unheralded and under-estimated Indian team made history in the just concluded India-Pakistan series. For the first time since the gifted rivals started playing the highly volatile bilateral series in 1978, India did not lose a single match in the Pakistan leg this time. India drew Pakistan 1-1 in the first match, won the second at Faislabad 2-1 and today drew again 3-3.
This might appear trifle out of place acclaim for a team that lost the 6-match series even before two matches were completed, but happily it’s true. Many would not even wish to believe a positive record being made by Rajinder’s India, given the fact that India failed to win even a token match in the Indian leg.
A peep into the history of the Series will give a better insight.
India-Pakistan series, a brainchild of M.A.M. Ramasamy, then IHF president, started on a cautious note in 1978. Just four matches were played in all, winger V.J. Philips’s India having lost both the matches on home soil and one more on crossing the border.
The second series (1981) was again a 4-match series; but India did not win even a token match in either leg. A dubious record for captain Surjit Singh.
We had a different story to tell in 1986. India won twice at home and once at Pakistan. But two draws at Pakistan gave the series to India. A great record for leader Md. Shahid and coach M.P. Ganesh.
1988 was a close affair. With two wins in India in the 8-match series, a single win or one more draw than the two it had, was what was required for India to win the series, but it was not to be.
The series was revived after 10 years in 1998, but having lost twice on home and away, India lost the series. A very close miss for captain Dhanraj Pillay and coach Vasudevan Baskaran.
Without 1998 Asiad winning stars, the 1999 series was a flop. India lost thrice consecutively at home, and twice in Pakistan.
Rajinder Singh Jr.’s India was under-prepared and hence under-estimated when after the exacting PHL India engaged the arch rivals.
Though India lost all the three matches at home, twice at Chandigarh and once at Jalandhar, the margin was bare minimum, single goal except once.
The draw in the first encounter at Lahore seemed to have given the visitors a sense of self-belief. At Faislabad, against about 30,000 home fans, India defeated Pakistan 2-1 in the fifth encounter.
And then on Sunday at Rawalpindi, despite down by 0-3, Ignited Ignace Tirkey’s team scored thrice in the gap of ten minutes, to make a record, not losing a match on Pakistan by any Indian team that engaged in the bilateral series.
Good lessons and omen for India in its preparation for the Commonwealth Games.
Our best wishes to the unheralded India team.