Bhopal, April 9: A national passion is being used to whip up interest in the national game.

Veteran hockey players from India and Pakistan will battle it out on the field on Tuesday while a huge TV screen at the stadium will telecast the cricket one-dayer live from Ahmedabad.

Having failed to sell too many tickets despite big names like Ajit Pal Singh, Mohammad Shahid, Zafar Iqbal, Akhtar Rasool, Hasan Sardar and Shahbaz featuring in the teams, the organisers are banking on the cricketers to bring in the crowds.

Former Olympian Jalaluddin, a member of the core organising committee, could barely hide his frustration. ?Personally, I feel we should seriously ponder over this because such a measure defeats the very purpose of organising a hockey match.?

Om Yadav, the vice-chairman of the Madhya Pradesh sports council, disagreed saying the hockey match has been organised for tsunami victims. ?Therefore, we should do everything possible to make it a success.?

The response from hockey fans in the city, once a famed nursery of the game, has been mixed. Former cricketer Farhan Ansari said there was no harm in airing a cricket match before and after a game or during the break. ?But when one game is being played, the other could serve as a distraction and even disturb players? concentration.?

The veterans? hockey match will be played at the city?s Tatya Tope Stadium, which has a seating capacity of 15,000. General tickets are being sold for Rs 20 while VIP tickets have a Rs 100 price tag. However, with four days to go, sales have been dismal.

The Pakistani veterans are currently on an Indian tour and will play four matches.

Like Lucknow and Jalandhar, Bhopal has a reputation of producing several Olympians, including Aslam Sher Khan, Inam-ur-Rahman and Jalaluddin.

However, in recent years, the national game has lost its glamour and youngsters are rarely seen with a hockey stick.

The city does not even have a decent astroturf, a prerequisite these days even for club-level hockey ? the Tuesday match will be played on grass.

The trouble does not end here. There is intense factionalism among the organisers of the game. Recently, two city-based teams had participated in the Hyderabad National League, each vying to represent Bhopal.