Here's why Pakistan is not playing men's hockey World Cup this year

Men's Hockey World Cup 2023 is all set to commence on January 13. The 15th edition of the Men's Hockey World Cup will run until January 29  at Kalinga Stadium, Bhubaneswar and Birsa Munda International Hockey Stadium, Rourkela. 16 teams from all over the world have already qualified for the grandest tournament in the sport of field hockey. 

However, Four-time Men's Hockey World Cup champion Pakistan will not be able to feature in the Men’s Hockey World Cup 2023 in India. The Green Machines were drawn into Group B along with, Japan, India and hosts Indonesia at Men's Hockey Asia Cup 2022. Pakistan started their tournament with a 1-1 draw against India. Then they defeated Indonesia by a huge margin of 13-0. However, in the final of the group stage, Pakistan were beaten 2-3 by Japan. So when India defeated Indonesia by a margin of 16-0, Pakistan were knocked out of the Men's Hockey Asia Cup 2022 on goal difference. As a result, Pakistan failed to qualify for the Men's Hockey World  Cup only for the second time in their history.