2006 India-Pakistan field hockey test series explained

Tournament:2006 India-Pakistan field hockey test series
Champions: Pakistan won the series 3–1
City:Chandigarh, Jalandhar
Lahore, Faisalabad, Rawalpindi
Venues:5 in 5 host cities
Matches:6
Top Scorer: Tariq Aziz
Top Scorer Goals:4
Goals:21
Previous Year:2004
Dates:17 February 2006 – 26 February 2006
Previous Tournament:2004 India-Pakistan field hockey test series

The 2006 Indo-Pak series (known as the Airtel Trophy for sponsorship reasons) was the 8th series of bilateral field hockey matches between Pakistan and India.

The six match series was played over two legs on home and away basis with three matches hosted in each country from 17 February to 2006 to 26 February 2006.[1] Pakistan won the series 3–1. Pakistan won their fourth consecutive and overall sixth series against India.[2] [3] This was the first time India did not lose the away leg of the series and remained unbeaten in Pakistan.[4]

Background

Prior to the start of the series Pakistan had won five out of seven bilateral series where as India won one and one was drawn. The two teams had met in December last year earlier in Chennai at the 2005 Champions Trophy with India winning 2–3. Both teams participated in a 4-Nations tournament in Netherlands month before that but did not face each other Pakistan won the tournament defeating Australia 4–3 in the final.

Venues

MatchLocationVenueDate
First17 February
SecondChandigarh, IndiaSector 42 Hockey Stadium18 February
ThirdSurjit Singh Stadium20 February
FourthLahore, PakistanNational Hockey Stadium22 February
FifthFaisalabad Hockey Stadium24 February
SixthRawalpindi, PakistanArmy Hockey Stadium26 February

Squads

India announced its squad on 2 February 2006. India named a rather young squad leaving out many veteran players like Gagan Ajit Singh, Deepak Thakur, captain Dileep Tirkey, Viren Rasquinha and Prabhjot Singh.[5] The Pakistan squad was announced on 8 February 2006.[6] The team was announced by Chief Selector Akhtar Rasool after the two days trials in Islamabad. Muhmmad Saqlain was named as captain despite his ill disciplinary record recently.

! India! Pakistan
Coach Rajinder Singh Jr.Coach Asif Bajwa

Results

First leg!Match!Date!Score!Location
117 FebruaryIndia 1–2 PakistanChandigarh
218 FebruaryIndia 1–3 PakistanChandigarh
320 FebruaryIndia 1–2 PakistanJalandhar
Second leg!Match!Date!Score!Location
122 FebruaryPakistan 1–1 IndiaLahore
224 FebruaryPakistan 1–2 IndiaFaisalabad
326 FebruaryPakistan 3–3 IndiaRawalpindi

Matches

First leg

Match 1Match 2Match 3

Second leg

Match 1Match 2Match 3

Statistics

!Team!P!W!D!L!GF!GA!GD
Pakistan6321129+3
India6123912-3

Goalscorers

There were 21 goals scored in 6 matches for an average of 3.5 goals per match.

Notes and References

  1. Web site: 2006-02-16. Pakistan hockey team arrives in India. 2021-03-22. DAWN.COM. en.
  2. Web site: Pakistan win hockey series 3-0. 2021-03-22. www.rediff.com.
  3. Web site: 2006-02-27. Hockey Series: Pakistan let India off the hook in final Test. 2021-03-22. DAWN.COM. en.
  4. Web site: Monthly Bulletin. 2021-03-22. www.bharatiyahockey.org.
  5. Web site: Rajinder retained India coach. 2021-03-22. www.rediff.com.
  6. Web site: Pakistan name hockey squad for India series. 2021-03-22. www.rediff.com.