Hockey handshake: Indian, Pak players uphold spirit of the game

COCKING a snook at geopolitical tensions, hockey players from India and Pakistan shook hands and did high fives as they took the field during an under-21 tournament in Malaysia on Tuesday. This welcome gesture was in stark contrast to cricketers’ no-handshake policy that caused acrimony recently in the men’s Asia Cup in the UAE and a women’s World Cup match in Sri Lanka. The hockey players have sent a strong message that sport and politics are like drinking and driving — not to be mixed at all.

It’s true that hockey is far less popular in the two countries than cricket, which whips up powerful emotions on both sides of the border. And the ongoing Sultan of Johor Cup is not a high-stakes event that would grab eyeballs. Still, the mutual eagerness to focus on the game and avoid distractions or controversies is laudable. Notably, on the eve of the India-Pak match, the Pakistan Hockey Federation had advised its players to steer clear of any confrontation with the Indian team. It had also asked them to be prepared for a no-handshake situation. Fortunately, no ugly scenes were witnessed as the youngsters displayed maturity far beyond their years. This should be the way forward for cricket as well.

The unsavoury tamasha during the Asia Cup showed cricketers and administrators from both nations in a poor light. The farcical events triggered a fierce backlash, with former England captain Michael Atherton calling for a complete halt to cricket between the bitter rivals as sport had become a “proxy for broader tensions and propaganda”. The bottom line is that the sporting world is not keen to see players of the two nations debase the spirit of the game. It’s high time sanity and better sense prevailed.