The 1975 Hockey World Cup was the third edition of the Hockey World Cup men's field hockey tournament. It was held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. In the final, India defeated Pakistan 2âÂÂ1. It was the second World Cup final appearance for both the nations; Pakistan was the winner of the inaugural World Cup in 1971, and India, the runner-up (to Netherlands) at the 1973 edition. Germany defeated the hosts, Malaysia, 4âÂÂ0 for third place.
The match played between India and West Germany on 7 March 1975 was abandoned due to bad light and was rescheduled for 10 March. The match was played at the Jalan Raja Muda Stadium and was stopped 25 minutes from time after West Germany goalkeeper complained of poor light, and the officials decided to call off the match.
The semi-final match between India and Malaysia was played on 13 March and was called off due to rain nine minutes into the game. It was rescheduled for the following day.
In the final match, Indian team faced its traditional archrival Pakistani team. Match was scheduled on 15 March 1975. Ashok Kumar scored the all-important winning goal to achieve India's lone triumph in the World cup.
India Squad<br> Leslie Fernandez, Ashok Diwan (shirt no. 2), Surjit Singh (4), Michael Kindo, Aslam Sher Khan (5), Varinder Singh (6), Onkar Singh, Mohinder Singh (8), Ajit Pal Singh (7 Captain), Ashok Kumar (17), B. P. Govinda (11), Harcharan Singh (15), Harjinder Singh, Victor Philips (10), Shivaji Pawar (16), P. E. Kalaiah
Pakistan Squad<br> Saleem Sherwani (shirt no. 1), Manzoor-ul Hassan (2), Munawar-uz-Zaman (3), Saleem Nazim (14), Akhtar Rasool (5), Iftikhar Ahmed Syed (6), Islahuddin (7 Captain), Mohammad Azam (15), Manzoor Hussain (9), Zahid Sheikh (10), Samiullah Khan (11), Safdar Abbas (16)