chennai the tag of tension invariably hangs over anything that has to do with india and pakistan but its not for nothing that the sport is considered a powerful tool to break barriersthe pakistan mens hockeyteam which has travelled to chennai to battle for top honours in the asian champions trophy act is feeling at home at least at first glanceread alsomens asian champions trophy 2023 when is india playing where to watch live and everything else you need to knowthe 7th edition of the mens asian champions trophy hockey tournament which was instituted in 2011 is set to begin at chennais mayor radhakrishnan stadium on thursday august 3 with the final scheduled for august 12asian champions trophy we will surprise india says pakistan head coach saqlainpakistan head coach muhammad saqlain acknowledged that india currently hold an advantage over his team in terms of preparations however he confidently promised that pakistan would spring a surprise on the hosts during their highly anticipated asian champions trophy hockey matchup on august 9the pakistan contingent was accorded a warm welcome on arrival on tuesday night with players and staff in good spirits even after a tiring journeywith the tournament organisers going out of their way to ensure chennai becomes a home away from home for the travelling teams pakistan cannot wait to take the field in india for the first time in five years the last time a senior pakistan side played in india was in bhubaneswar during the 2018 world cupon the eve of pakistans act opener against malaysia the teams coach muhammad saqlain had only good things to say about india and their hockey culturei had played the 2005 champions trophy in chennai where i was the captain it does not matter if we are coming to india after five or 10 years we really like to play in india saqlain told toi after a practice session on wednesday there is a wonderful crowd here be it in hockey or cricket pakistan have always performed well in chennai added saqlainthe team was at the mayor radhakrishnan stadium early in the morning to get a feel of the turf even though their scheduled practice was in the evening having underperformed in recent years pakistan have picked a squad packed with youngsters in modern hockey if you stick to the game plan and are skillful seniority does not matter but some seniors must be there in the squad it is a nice combination of seniors and juniors i hope that we are finally moving in the right direction said saqlaintalking about the muchanticipated indiapakistan roundrobin contest next wednesday saqlain said it is a different game india and pakistan are known for the attacking hockey that they play the coaches of top teams like holland and germany love to watch india and pakistan play he said adding i believe that india and pakistan should play more matches against each other as they will help the teams take their games to the next levelcoach happy