‘India vs Pakistan will be like war’

It’s one of the more familiar sights in contemporary hockey. Starting from well outside the circle, Sohail Abbas paces forward, in sync with the movement of the approaching ball. The stopper sets it up and steps back and Abbas crouches, stretches out the left leg before unloading the momentum into the drag. Statistics say 65 times out of 100, the flick, which might well have been fired from a bazooka, ends up where it’s meant to be — in the goal.

The first player to have scored 300 international goals in history, Abbas, arguably the best exponent of the art of drag-flicking, has racked up numbers previously inconceivable in hockey. But as the 32-year-old comes to India for the World Cup, he is aiming to take a leap to undeniable greatness — eyeing his first win in a major tournament. Last year, he came out of retirement to help Pakistan secure a berth in the quadrennial event. “After all the hard work that I’ve put in, it feel great to be the world’s highest scorer. But I came out of retirement with only one objective: to win the World Cup for Pakistan,” said Abbas, speaking to The Indian Express from Lahore.

“The team is the right blend of youth and experience. There are senior players like Rehan Butt, Zeeshan Ashraf, Shakeel Abbasi and myself. We will take one match at a time, and every match as if it’s the final,” he said.

By the logic, the first match should be the mother of all “finals”, as Pakistan on take arch-rivals India on their turf. The mere mention of it, and you feel the excitement in his voice. “In an event like the World Cup, you can’t discount any team. For us every team will be alike, be it Australia, Spain, South Africa, England or India.

Emotions running high

“But yes, playing India in India will be a different experience. Especially in the wake of what happened in the IPL auction. It wasn’t an issue for us, the hockey players. We believe sport should be kept away from politics. Having said that, the public’s emotions in India must be running high. Jang ka mahaul hoga (it will be like war),” he said.

The last time the two teams met, Pakistan routed India 6-3 in Champions Challenge tournament in Argentina in December. While the drag-flicker doesn’t attach too much importance to that result, he says the off-field distractions may put extra pressure on India. “There’s always pressure in an India-Pakistan match. But it will be much more on India as they are dealing with a lot many issues — payment, captaincy etc. It may affect their performance.”

His own performance has been remarkable. Coming back from a four-year retirement, he played a crucial role in the World Cup qualifiers in France, before guiding the team to second place in the Champions Challenge. Abbas attributes his success to the Dutch league. “It was not that I was away from hockey. I was playing in Holland, and it helped me hone my skills and maintain my fitness levels. So coming back was relatively easy. Pakistan needed me, and I couldn’t say no.”