Cowardly Pakistan once again frightened, withdraws from this tournament in India
New Delhi: In 2023, Pakistan had sent its team to Ahmedabad for the One-Day World Cup. However, after the brutal massacre of Hindu tourists in Pahalgam on April 22, 2025, carried out by Pakistan-backed terrorists, Pakistan suffered a heavy defeat at India’s hands in a short three-day war. Since then, Pakistan has been afraid to send its players to India — and another example of that fear emerged on Friday. Pakistan has decided not to send its junior hockey players to India for the Junior Hockey World Cup. Earlier, in August, Pakistan had also refused to send its team to Bihar for the Men’s Hockey Asia Cup.
The upcoming Junior Hockey World Cup is scheduled to be held in India between November and December, and the Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) has officially informed the International Hockey Federation (FIH) that it will not participate. The Pakistani organization stated, “Our team has qualified for the Junior Hockey World Cup in Tamil Nadu, but we will not be participating.”
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This tournament is set to take place from November 28 to December 10 in Chennai and Madurai. Pakistan was placed in Group B alongside India, Chile, and Switzerland. A new team will be announced to replace Pakistan in that group. However, Hockey India has stated that it has not received any official communication from the PHF about Pakistan’s withdrawal from the tournament.
Recently, the Indian government announced a new policy maintaining its stance of not playing bilateral series with Pakistan, but continuing to compete in multinational tournaments that include Pakistan. However, in contrast, Pakistan has adopted the opposite approach — choosing to withdraw from multinational tournaments held in India.
It is worth noting that during the recent Asia Cup cricket tournament, Indian player Suryakumar Yadav refused to shake hands with Pakistan’s captain Salman Agha, and other Indian players also avoided shaking hands with Pakistani players after the match. Moreover, India’s team declined to receive the trophy from Mohsin Naqvi, who is both Pakistan’s minister and the president of the Asian Cricket Council (ACC). As a result, Naqvi reportedly kept India’s rightful trophy and medals locked in the ACC office cabinet.