Pakistan team arrives in India with ‘peace message’

NEW DELHI: They are the team everybody wants to see in action at hockey’s biggest stage, the World Cup. So, the sight of this hugely talented Pakistani bunch of players trooping out of the bus on Monday evening, more than made up for the long wait one had to endure amidst tight security at the team hotel.

The players looked tired and jaded after a long and arduous bus journey from Lahore to Delhi via the Wagah border, but the excitement of reaching India was clearly visible on their faces. The Zeeshan Ashraf-led team’s presence in the World Cup is important since they are the first major team from across the border to come to India for a sports event following the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks. And clearly, the Pakistanis understand the significance of the tour.

When asked why the team came by bus when they could have reached Delhi from Lahore in 50 minutes flat by air, manager Asif Bajwa smiled and replied: “The journey may be tough, but we have come here with a message of peace. For our brothers, this fatigue is nothing.” Bajwa said that the day before coming to India the players met the Prime Minister. “He told us ‘you are our ambassadors’.”

There were not many gun-totting security personnel in the team hotel’s vicinity, but one could feel the presence of tight security with several plainclothes policemen ensuring that nobody got close to the players. Still, some media men managed to have a word or two with the players who said they were looking forward to a good outing in the World Cup.

Earlier, the team came to the Capital in the Delhi-Lahore bus and shifted to a DTC bus at the Ambedkar bus terminal, where they were received and garlanded by officials from the Pakistan High Commission and Hockey India. Bajwa said that good security cover was provided during their trip from the Wagah border to the team hotel.

“We are happy with the security arrangements made for us and the World Cup. Right from the point we entered India till reaching here, security was strict and tight,” said Bajwa, who is also the secretary of the Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF).

This is Pakistan hockey team’s first visit to the country in over two years, the last being their visit for the Asia Cup in Chennai in 2007.

Meanwhile, some other teams including Australia and South Africa reached the city earlier in the day. The Australians, who were the first team to arrive, went to the National Stadium in the evening for a two-hour practice session. A few other teams including Argentina are scheduled to arrive early on Tuesday while the remaining teams will reach over the next three days. India are scheduled to play a warm-up match with Argentina on Tuesday.