Indian junior men's hockey team exchanges high fives, greetings with Pakistan
Gesture in sharp contrast with cricket stand-off, amid Asia Cup trophy fiasco
India vs Pakistan hockey match ends 3-3 in Sultan of Johor Cup
Contrary to their cricket counterparts, the Indian junior men's hockey team exchanged high fives and greetings with Pakistan players before and after their Sultan of Johor Cup 2025 encounter at the Taman Daya Hockey Stadium in Johor Bahru, Malaysia on Tuesday (October 14). The match ended in a thrilling 3-3 draw.
In cricket, India and Pakistan continue to be embroiled in an Asia Cup controversy, with victors India still not getting their hands on the trophy after the stand-off with Pakistan Cricket Board and Asian Cricket Council chief Mohsin Naqvi. The two teams did not shake hands in any of their three meetings at the continental showpiece, in which Suryakumar Yadav's side beat Salman Ali Agha's Men In Green by five wickets in the final.
The same policy was extended in the Women's World Cup, when India took on Pakistan in Colombo, a match which Harmanpreet Kaur and Co won by 88 runs. But the hockey colts bucked that trend in Malaysia.
As for the hockey match itself, India fought back from a two-goal deficit to take the lead, only for Pakistan to strike late and ensure the points were shared. The result meant India could not complete a hat-trick of wins, but are still undefeated in the tournament.
For India, Araijeet Singh Hundal (43’), Sourabh Anand Kushwaha (47’), Manmeet Singh (53’) netted goals, while for Pakistan, Hannan Shahid (5’) and Sufyan Khan (39’, 55’) were on the scoresheet.
Pakistan captain Hannan Shahid converted a penalty stroke in the fifth minute to give his team an early lead. Pakistan then doubled their advantage when Sufyan converted a penalty corner in the 39th minute.
Refusing to back down, India continued to push forward and were rewarded late in the third quarter. With less than three minutes remaining, they earned a penalty stroke, which was confidently converted by Hundal to narrow the deficit.
Kushwaha then struck a superbly placed shot to level the score. Confident after finding the equaliser, India switched to an aggressive, attacking approach that pushed Pakistan onto the back foot.
Their persistence paid off when Manmeet found the back of the net, giving India the lead for the first time in the match. However, the advantage proved short-lived as Sufyan converted a penalty corner for second time in the match to restore parity.
India will next play Australia on 15th October.
