CHENNAI: It's late on Thursday. The mosque next to the Mayor Radhakrishnan Stadium sounds the call to prayer (Azan). It's time for Isha, the night-time prayer, in Islam. Pakistan, training on the main pitch of the Stadium, stops their practice while Azan is ongoing. After observing silence, they resume the training session.
A good hour later, Muhammad Saqlain, officially listed as the team coach for the Asian Champions Trophy, has another prayer. For both nations to come together and show 'large-heartedness'. He compares the two warring neighbours and says they could come together to co-exist peacefully like how others have done it.
"Americans have Canadians alongside them. If there's Australia, then they have New Zealand next to them. Germany has Netherlands... one country might be superior to another but on the field of play, they are all the same. There has to be respect and love."
While there is no love lost at the government level, it's not fair to say the same as far as sporting relations are concerned, especially in field hockey. Players of both countries have played hard but fair and have always exchanged pleasantries and have nothing but respect and love for their counterparts from across the border.
Saqlain, for instance, can't wait to meet his guru, Dhanraj Pillay, the show-stopper who dazzled crowds with his stickwork in the 90s and the early noughties.
"We also want to see our guru, Dhanraj Pillay," he said after a Pakistan training session on Wednesday. "I want to make my players meet him. If he comes, I will request him to meet my players at the team hotel and give them a lecture. I used to like Dhanraj a lot when I was a player."
That sort of love and affection is shared by India's former hockey players. When they entered India via the Attari-Wagah border a few days ago, a few familiar faces greeted them — Singhs, Kamalpreet and Jugraj. "Jugraj and Kamalpreet came to receive us. They were waiting for us to reach there," Saqlaid said.
The bond between Kamalpreet and Saqlain, in a microcosm, sums up the relationship the players have developed over the decades. They may be rivals on the field; off the field, they are brothers from another mother. "In 2005, I was the captain of the team that was here (for the Champions Trophy), and Kamalpreet Singh was blessed with a daughter. His parents told me to name the child, saying it was the guest's honour to do that. I named her Rehmat, since it was by the grace of God."
He has a special place in his heart for Gagan Ajit Singh. "Gagan was a very close friend; we used to spend our time together off the field. On it, we used to rile each other, tease, score goals and make the other person angry... it happened many times and Jugraj would end up playing the mediator. We are all very close friends. When we played in a third country, Gagan and all used to get gifts for our families. I, too, used to do that."
He also remembers a time when people in the stands welcomed them with open arms. "I can't forget the passion and love the people of Bhopal showered on us when I first played here in 1999. It never felt like we were playing away from home."
The fractured diplomatic relationship between the two nations has meant that both countries haven't played in a Test series in both cricket and hockey in well over a decade. He advocated for 'large-heartedness' before going on to call India as 'progressive' and 'superior'. "Both nations need to show large-heartedness. That's my request, even to India — you've progressed so much as a country, a lot superior, please open your heart a little more so you can accommodate a few more people.
"In 1999, PM Vajpayee ji played a very positive role, even starting Samjhauta Express. So it's important to have continuity of the process. The amount of talent our two nations have, I haven't seen anywhere else in the world. We have to let bygones be bygones and look at the future together. Everyone will benefit if we do that."
Rehan Butt, part of the backroom staff with the team, also spoke about indelible relationships with friends from across the border. "All of them are my friends," he said. "Few of my Indian friends may come to Chennai, but nothing has been decided yet."
One thing he would love to take back home — he calls it 'the biggest gift' — is the Punjabi plays that he finds hard to get back home.
On the field, the Green Shirts were a tad unlucky as they went down to Malaysia 1-3. They spurned a host of chances as well as a penalty stroke.
