An India-Pakistan showdown today

In what is anticipated to be a thrilling contest between the archrivals, two Asian heavyweights India and Pakistan will square off against each other in a crucial fixture of the Asian Champions Trophy men's hockey tournament at the Maulana Bhashani Hockey Stadium today.

India lead the five-team table with four points from two matches while Pakistan are second from the bottom with one point from as many matches. The encounter between seven-time Olympic gold-medallist India and four-time World Cup winner Pakistan once promised a fierce battle but somehow it has turned into one-way traffic with India beating Pakistan convincingly on a few occasions in the recent past. The contest, however, still stands out due to the age-old rivalry between the two neighbouring countries.

Pakistan could not beat India in the Champions Trophy since their thrilling 5-4 win in 2013. In fact, Pakistan suffered defeats – 3-2, 3-2 and 3-1 –  in their last three meetings in this tournament between 2016 to 2018.

Pakistan were also handed two defeats by India in Dhaka during the Asia Cup in 2017 with India notching up an emphatic 3-1 win in the group stage before registering a thumping 4-0 victory in the Super Fours.

Despite the recent success of India, Pakistan still have an edge in overall wins between the two sides.

"We can't disrespect any team because every team came here to give their best. So, Pakistan will not offer us an easy match. I think it will be a really good match tomorrow [Friday] and that's what we are expecting," said Indian captain Manpreet Singh. "It is all about how we are going to play the match. If we do our basic and other things well, we will win the match."

Singh's counterpart Omar Butta, skipper of Pakistan, promised not to give up till the last whistle against India. "It is like another game and Pakistan and India are just opponents in a hockey match and that's all," said Bhutto. "As you know they played in the Olympics recently and got the bronze, so they are a good team but we will try our best."

Meanwhile, hosts Bangladesh will be hoping to avert another humiliation when they take on South Korea at the same venue after the tie between India and Pakistan.

Bangladesh played comparatively better in the first two quarters against India but collapsed afterward, suffering a humiliating 0-9 defeat in their opening match.