India, Pakistan Hockey match is expected to attract a huge audience, says CEO of Asian Hockey Federation Tayyab Ikram. Pakistan will be playing India at the Hero Men’s Asia Cup scheduled to begin on May 23rd, 2022 in Jakarta.
Pakistan, India, Japan, and host nation Indonesia are in the same pool. Pool B includes Malaysia, Korea, Oman, and Bangladesh. Pakistan will face India on May 23rd in Pool A.
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CEO Ikram say he expected the match will attract a huge audience as usual. “India and Pakistan match has always been better than other properties of world hockey, as far as viewership is concerned. We would like to repeat the same and try to present the best athletes from India and Pakistan in this context. I think the entire tournament is a package for our athletes of the participating nations to showcase their talent,” said Tayyab Ikram, who is also a member of the IOC Commission, Executive Board Member of FIH, and treasurer of FIH Foundation.
With the new setup, both India and Pakistan are expected to face each other twice. Former Indian Captain and two-time Olympian Sardar Singh is the coach of the Indian Hockey team meanwhile Asian Gold Medalist Siegfried Aikman is the coach of the Pakistani side.
Tayyab Ikram said, “Siegfried Aikman and Sardar Singh are very close to me. If you talk about the management and coaching prospects of these two teams, you need more than coaching itself. Both Pakistan and India have different philosophies when it comes to coaching. Both are very capable. Siegfried has a lot of experience, and a lot of cultures, he has tried to bring on different kinds of projects. Sardar, when he was leading the Indian team, that level of competition has brought him a lot of experience as well. This is very exciting for us and we look forward to the same.”