How economic strength has dictated the India-Pakistan hockey rivalry

Evolution of the India vs Pakistan rivalry since 1970s

The decision by the International Hockey Federation to shift to astro-turfs in 1986 (although initially introduced at the 1976 Montreal Olympics) reshaped the modern game. The decision neutralised the playing styles of the technical skill-laden playing style of India and Pakistan and favoured the strategical, physical and fast-paced playing style of the Europeans and Australians.

Indian hockey and Pakistani hockey found themselves on the backfoot. Simply put, hockey became an expensive sport. Replacing wooden sticks with graphite sticks and building and maintaining synthetic astro-turf pitches were no mere cheap tasks. Today, the cost of laying astro-turf pitches varies from ₹4 crores to ₹8 crores. Replacing the numerous grass turfs with synthetic ones demanded heavy funding or sponsorships which weren’t readily available at the time. This brought an abrupt halt to the global dominance of the two Asian stalwarts.

Pakistani hockey still managed to hobble on and try to cope with the changes, going to the extent of winning the 1994 Hockey World Cup. In head-to-head comparison, Pakistan completely dominated India. Owing to an abundance of loans and external aid, Pakistan’s economy also overtook that of India’s.

But by the 1990s, India and Pakistan were almost at par in regard to per-capita GDP. In 1991, the decision to reform and liberalise its economy, was the stepping-stone for India to over-take Pakistan in not only GDP graphs but also in the field of hockey.

By 2021, India’s per-capita income had increased to $2,277 – double of Pakistan’s.

Fig 1: The graph, based on World Bank data, depicts the per-capita GDP trajectory of India and Pakistan from 1960-2022. Since 2007, India's per-capita GDP has constantly remained higher than that of Pakistan's.

As the above illustration shows, there is a strong corelation between the economic strength of the two Asian nations and their performance on the hockey field.

Recently, Pakistan has been a nation embedded in economic turmoil, surviving on external grants. Simultaneously, India is the fastest growing trillion-dollar economy and is utilising its resources to improve sporting infrastructure across the nation.

The head-to-head record since 2010 shows a total reversal. With 21 wins, 9 draws and only 8 losses since 2010, India has reclaimed its hockey hegemony over Pakistan. Indian hockey is in an undeniable upward spiral while Pakistan's hockey ambitions are eroding away.

Pakistan’s hockey and economy, both on life-support

In 2014, Pakistan failed to qualify for the Men’s Hockey World Cup for the first time. In their glory days, they had made it to the Olympic podium in seven successive editions (1956-1984) and tasted Olympic gold three times, but they failed to even qualify for the 2016 and 2020 Olympics. With increasing economic woes, the future of Pakistani hockey looks uncertain.

India too initially failed to adapt to ‘modern’ hockey. Following the introduction of artificial pitches, India only tasted Olympic success in 1980 where it clinched gold (bear in mind that the 1980 Moscow Olympics was boycotted by majority of the nations).

Despite being on the losing end of the 'turf war', India's economic liberalisation helped turn the tide in the 21st century. Change wasn't overnight. In the late 90s and early 2000s, India gave Pakistan a lot of fight but still turned out on the losing side more often than not.

However, once India’s economy stabilized, there was a lot of investment in artificial pitches while Pakistan lagged behind. Higher GDP and more resources meant more avenues for improving sporting infrastructure, training facilities, coaches, equipment, and consequent sporting success and increase in sponsorships. The men's team's bronze medal at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics is testament to the change in fortunes.

Dualities across the border

As it stands currently, there is a glaring disparity between hockey infrastructure in India and Pakistan.

Pakistan presently has seven recognised hockey venues and ten hockey stadiums, out of which at least five are in deplorable condition and in dire need for complete makeovers. In fact, in 2022, the astro-turf (which was installed for ₹70M) at the National Hockey Stadium in Lahore, was completely ripped off and damaged to accommodate a political rally of former Prime Minister and Pakistan cricket legend Imran Khan.

India, meanwhile, is home to around 40 world-class hockey stadiums, including the largest fully-seated hockey stadium in the world, the Birsa Munda International Hockey Stadium in Odisha. The country boasts of a plethora of astro-turf hockey fields today and dozens more were created prior to the 2023 Men’s Hockey World Cup. Additionally, India comprises over 70 FIH approved astro-turf hockey fields in India, more than capable to host international matches. The Sundargarh district of Odisha itself comprises 23 such hockey fields.

Odisha became the first region in the world to host two successive hockey World Cups. Ever-since Naveen Patnaik’s Odisha government became the main sponsor of the national hockey team by signing a ₹100 crore deal for five years, Indian hockey has reached new heights.

In a contrasting lens to India’s reality, misuse of funds has assisted the downfall of hockey in Pakistan. Foreign coaches such as Roelant Oltmans and Siegfried Aikman resigned in recent years, citing ‘improper functioning and salary debt’.

Pakistani hockey great, Samiullah Khan stated, “Funds which PHF used to get were not utilised in the right manner. We don’t have modern equipment.”

At present, the Indian men’s hockey team is ranked 5^th and the Indian women’s hockey team is ranked 8^th while Pakistani men’s hockey team is ranked 16^th and Pakistani women’s hockey team is ranked 57th in the world.