Indo-Pak hockey officials to discuss Test series in FIH meet

Karachi: Hockey officials from India and Pakistan are set to discuss the revival of bilateral

tournaments between the arch-rivals on the sidelines of International Hockey Federation (FIH) Congress in Switzerland next month. According to a news report, Hockey India secretary Narinder Batra will meet his Pakistani counterpart Asif Bajwa in Montreux (Switzerland) and would look at the possibilities of organising Indo-Pak Test series. "We will have a detailed meeting and the idea of reviving bilateral matches will be on the top of the agenda," Bajwa said. "We are all for reviving bilateral hockey series with India. Such matches, if held on a regular basis, will benefit hockey in both the countries," he added. India and Pakistan have played each other only in FIH events in the past couple of years and Bajwa said it was important for both the teams to compete on a bilateral basis to revive the game in both the countries. "For hockey to regain its lost popularity we have to attract fans and one great way to do that is to have regular Pakistan-India matches," he said. "It would be great if we can have Pakistan-India matches in Lahore, Karachi, Delhi or Chandigarh but if that`s not possible then we can stage a series on neutral venue also. Even though the costs will be higher, it will still be a win-win option for both the countries," he added. The FIH meet is scheduled to start from November 7. PTI