File photo of Dhanraj Pillay from the 2002 Asian Games (Emmanuel Dunand/AFP via Getty Images)

NEW DELHI: “I have had very good relations with the Pakistan players…but on that day, it pinched me a lot.”
The stories of off-the-field friendships between India and Pakistan players make for warm anecdotes. But the gush of patriotic adrenaline during their epic battles over the years has often crossed the boundaries of aggression.
They would always put their arm around each other at breakfasts or dinner-table discussions during a tournament to let what happened on the field remain on the field, but come match-day, and they would be pumped up to the core to unfurl magic with their hockey sticks.
On one such occasion, at Amstelveen in the Netherlands 17 years ago, India staged a comeback that generations have talked about and will continue doing so. It ended with a moment that the then skipper Dhanraj Pillay was waiting for, with a background story from a year before that day.
“I have had very good relations with the Pakistan team, I still do, but not on the field,” said Pillay, before narrating the anecdote to Timesofindia.com.
The India vs Pakistan pool game from the 2003 Champions Trophy is considered the epitome of magical matches produced by hockey’s most famous rivalry. It used to be good old 70-minute matches in those days. India were trailing Pakistan 2-4 until the 42nd minute, after which Deepak Thakur in the 50th minute and Prabhjot Singh in the 54th levelled the game with 16 minutes to play.
What followed were five magical minutes, between the 60th and the 65th minute, that showcased skills of the highest order and produced two goals from Gagan Ajit Singh (60th and 62nd) and Thakur to give India one of their most famous wins. The scoreline ended 7-4 in favour of India.
“I don’t think that kind of match happened again,” said Pillay. “It was raining goals and we were clueless having conceded four. The credit of that win goes to Jugraj Singh (who scored two goals off drag-flicks), Gagan Ajit Singh, Deepak Thakur and Prabhjot Singh. Baljit Dhillon, I, Baljeet Saini, Viren Rasquinha, we were feeding (balls to) these guys.”
“I didn’t score a goal, but thoroughly enjoyed playing in that match. Even today, when I see my passes on YouTube, it’s such a joy,” the former India captain, who celebrates his 52nd birthday today, said.
“There are a lot of memories from that game,” Pillay added, before taking us back a year from that day, which led to the moment he had been waiting for.
“In the 2002 Champions Trophy at Cologne (Germany), we beat Pakistan 3-2 in the pool game but lost (3-4) in the playoff for the third-fourth place. After we lost, the Pakistan players came right in front of me and started waving their flag. It pinched me a lot,” Pillay, who ended that event as the ‘Player of the Tournament’ said.
Cut to 2003, it was the Champions Trophy again, and India had scripted a win that typified snatching victory from the jaws of defeat. Pillay hadn’t forgotten what happened a year ago; and when a spectator from the crowd handed over the Indian flag to him, the skipper couldn’t be stopped.
“After the game, the Pakistan team went to their dug-out. One paaji sitting in the stands gave me the Indian flag. I had our tricolour in my hands. I went towards the Pakistan dugout waving it and celebrated, but not in any anger, as I was the senior-most player. It was a proud moment, after all,” said Pillay.
Pillay was in the fag end of his career by then, having made his debut in 1989. The Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna awardee ended his international career soon after as the only hockey player to have played in four Olympics, four World Cups, four Champions Trophies and four Asian Games.
“Whenever I played against Pakistan, my performance was the best. But off the field, with Shahbaz bhai, Tahir Zaman bhai, I have a very good friendship, no doubt. Even today we are in touch,” said one of India’s greatest centre-forwards.
“Pakistan players respect me a lot. Whenever they would find me having breakfast or dinner, they would come over, ‘Pillay bhai baithe hain, kuchh seekhne ko milega’ (Dhanraj Pillay is sitting here, we will be able to learn something from him). They would sit with me and we would talk at length,” Pillay told TimesofIndia.com..
He concluded by naming the Pakistan player who always left an impression on him with his humility and intellect.
“I have learnt a lot from Mansoor Ahmed (former Pakistan captain and goalkeeper), who is not with us anymore. He died two years ago. I used to sit with him a lot, and he used to say a lot of good things about the two countries.”