‘It’s not only about India vs Pak’

New Delhi, Feb. 18: India take on arch-rivals Pakistan in their opening game of the 12th hockey World Cup beginning here on February 28, in what is billed as the match of the tournament. But midfielder Tushar Khandker doesn’t think so and considers it as “just another match.”

“Every match is special and crucial for us. I don’t know why people are just talking about the India-Pakistan match as there are other big teams in the tournament as well. We are not going into the tournament thinking about just one match,” Khandker said at a function to announce the World Cup’s tie-up with ING Vyasa in the capital on Thursday.

“There won’t be any additional pressure on us even though we are playing against Pakistan. We will instead have the home advantage and I am looking forward to the crowd getting behind us,” he said commenting on the pressure in Indo-Pak matches.

Besides Pakistan, the hosts will face Australia, South Africa, Spain and England in the other Pool B matches.

“Our preparation is going in the right direction. We are preparing specific strategies for every team. We have been training hard in the last 10 days and under coach Jose Brasa’s guidance, have worked on our weak points,” the midfielder added.

Asked about the lack of big matches in the lead up to the World Cup, Khandker said, “We have played matches against teams like Spain and Holland over the last year. The entire year has been more or less a preparation for the World Cup. Some big matches over the last 10 days would have been ideal, but it is not in our hands,” he said.

The national hockey team’s preparation have been hit hard by the captaincy controversy, but Khandker said the episode was a closed chapter. “The captaincy controversy is over. There is no groupism in the team. We are all united now and we want to win and do well for the country,” Khandker said.

Meanwhile, Hockey India president Vidya Stokes allayed the security fears of foreign teams in the wake of the recent terror threats from a militant outfit, saying the government has put in place all the necessary measures for a incident-free tournament.