Pakistan's decline, India's resurrection in focus ahead of blockbuster subcontinental Asian Champions Trophy hockey clash

The Indian men's hockey team is all set to take on Pakistan in a pool game of the Asian Champions Trophy in Hulunbuir, China on September 14 in a contest that is preceded by some incredible remote and recent history.

Hockey historians often point to the fact that it was Pakistan which halted India's juggernaut of six successive gold medal wins at the 1960 Olympics before continuing to outperform their arch-rivals on the world stage until recently.

Pakistan won gold at the 1994 World Cup and bronze at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics, while also winning bronze in the elite Champions Trophy in 2012 followed by silver in 2014.

The Indians, on the other hand, failed to win a single Olympic or World Cup medal for 41 years since their triumph in Moscow 1980. India who won a Champions Trophy bronze in 1982 had to wait 34 years to clinch two silver medals in 2016 and 2018 even as the curtains came down on the prestigious competition in Breda.

However, a dramatic shift in fortunes since 2016 witnessed the Indian men's hockey team clinch two consecutive Olympic bronze medals even as once-mighty Pakistan failed to qualify for Tokyo 2021 and Paris 2024.

Similarly, the head-to-head numbers between the two sides also underwent an astounding transformation that began in 2016.

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The dramatic shift in the head-to-head numbers between India and Pakistan since the 2016 Asian Champions Trophy

When India and Pakistan faced off in the 2016 Asian Champions Trophy, it was the 165th meeting between the two hockey giants.

Back then, the head-to-head scale weighed heavily in favor of Pakistan who led 82-52 in terms of the win-loss record with both sides having registered 31 drawn games.

Ahead of the fifth edition of the Asian Champions Trophy in 2018, India's win record against Pakistan had climbed to 62 while the Men in Green stayed put at 82 after 176 matches.

It was not just the head-to-head statistics that had changed. The margins of victory also signalled a distinct shift in the balance of power between the Asian heavyweights.

At the Hockey World League semi-finals in June 2017, India thrashed Pakistan by a 7-1 margin in the pool phase of the competition. When both teams met for a second time in a crossover classification game, the Indians coasted to a 6-1 win.

The Indians under the tutelage of Sjoerd Marijne defeated Pakistan 3-1 in an Asia Cup game in Dhaka the same year before blanking their rivals 4-0 in the Super 4s stage.

Sjoerd Marijne told Sportskeeda that he remembers the exciting encounter against Pakistan to this day in which the Indians outperformed their opponents playing give-and-go hockey.

"As the India coach, my first Pakistan game was very exciting and I knew the pressure was higher as compared to other matches. We played very well and made fantastic goals and outperformed Pakistan. We played really good give-and-go hockey and I enjoyed every minute of it," Marijne recalled.

Pakistan's best result against India since the HWL in London was a 2-2 draw in a pool game of the 2018 Commonwealth Games.

In the final edition of the Champions Trophy at Breda that followed soon after, the Indians made amends by walloping Pakistan 4-0 in the tournament opener. A 2-1 win for India in the bronze-medal game of the 2018 Asian Games ensured that the Indians remained dominant against Pakistan.

The much-anticipated Asian Games clash last year turned out to be one-sided, with the Indians making short work of Pakistan by a 10-2 margin in a pool game.

Ahead of Saturday's clash in Hulunbuir, the two sides have now played a total of 180 matches.

The Indians have won 66 of these games with 32 of the matches being drawn (also the Asian Champions Trophy final of 2018 between India and Pakistan had to be abandoned on account of bad weather).

Pakistan, however, have failed to advance past the 82-match winning mark since 2016 when they beat India 1-0 in the final of the South Asian Games.

Can Pakistan defy the odds to spring a surprise against India at the Asian Champions Trophy in China?

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Pakistan's performance in the lead-up to the India game at the 2024 Asian Champions Trophy

Pakistan failed to qualify for the 2024 Olympics but did come tantalisingly close to booking a berth.

At Muscat, Oman, Pakistan finished second in their group at the Olympic qualifiers while Great Britain took the top spot. The three-time Olympic champions lost to Germany 0-4 in the semi-finals but stood a chance to qualify for the Olympics if only they managed to finish third in the qualifiers.

In the classification match for third and fourth places, Pakistan lost narrowly to New Zealand by a 2-3 margin with a 52nd-minute goal by Hugo Inglis dashing the hopes of the Asian side.

At the ongoing Asian Champions Trophy, Pakistan settled for a 2-2 draw against Malaysia before splitting points with Korea following an identical scoreline.

Coach Tahir Zaman's team then beat Japan 2-1 before thrashing China 5-1 to advance to the semifinals of the tournament.

Much like the Indians, Pakistan are yet to be defeated at Hulunbuir. The Harmanpreet Singh-led side has, however, been a cut above the rest winning all their matches while scoring a whopping 19 goals and conceding 3 thus far.

In contrast, Pakistan has scored 11 goals and conceded 6 in the Asian Champions Trophy competition.

Even as India heads into the big game as the favourites, the think-tank will be more than aware that Pakistan will be keen to make a statement while giving it all they have under the watchful eyes of former international Tahir Zaman.

Tahir Zaman was part of a legendary Pakistan side that won bronze in the 1992 Olympics and gold at the 1994 World Cup.

Hockey fans should be in for a treat when the two teams go head-to-head at the Asian Champions Trophy for the 181st time hoping to create more history yet again.

Viewers in India can catch the hockey action live on the Sony Sports Network.