The India-Pakistan conflict has left the fate of many sporting events in disarray, but it may come as a boon for the Bangladesh hockey team.

The Bangladesh team recently failed to qualify for the upcoming Asia Cup – the first time they are not supposed to play in the continent's apex hockey competition – after having finished third in AHF Cup. Only two teams from the AHF Cup are allowed into the right-team Asia Cup, with Oman and Chinese Taipei grabbing those two spots while Bangladesh finished third.

The eight-team Asia Cup is scheduled to be held in Bihar, India in August-September this year. Pakistan are one of the automatic qualifiers in that tournament.

However, the recent conflict between the two nuclear armed neigbours all but rules out the possibility of Pakistan playing in India. That leaves with two options: either move the tournament away from India or play it in India without Pakistan.

Speaking to The Daily Star about this issue, Bangladesh Hockey Federation's general secretary Lt Col (retd) Riazul Hasan said: "We haven't heard anything formal. What we have heard, mostly from media and unofficial channels, is the two possibilities: One is taking the tournament elsewhere, and the other is playing there without Pakistan.

"Now, if the second option is chosen, that is if Pakistan don't play, it opens up a spot since AHF would want to have two groups of eight teams, and Bangladesh, who finished third in AHF Cup, are the likely candidates to fill up that spot. But these decisions must come from the hockey governing bodies such as the AHF and the FIH," Riazul explained.

There is good reason to speculate at this stage that the second option could be more viable since India, being the marketing hub of Asian and world hockey, would not want the tournament to be played elsewhere, especially so close to the schedule. And given the current political situation, the India team may not even want to play against Pakistan anywhere in the world.

If that happens and the tournament is staged in India without Pakistan playing, Bangladesh might sneak into the event without really deserving to be there.