London: A thrilling win against Olympic champions Netherlands boosting its confidence, the Indian men’s hockey team would look to carry forward the momentum when it takes on arch-rivals Pakistan in the opening match of the London leg of the FIH Pro League here on Tuesday.
It will also be the first time that India and Pakistan will lock horns against each other since the Asian Champions Trophy clash in Hulunbuir, China, in 2024 which India won 2-1, thanks to captain Harmanpreet Singh’s brace.
The Indians won two matches out of four in Rotterdam. They beat hosts and world no.2 the Netherlands 3-2 on Sunday in the concluding match of the Rotterdam leg. India’s other victory (3-1) came against reigning world champions and world no.5 Germany.
In the other two matches, India lost 2-3 against the Netherlands and 1-2 against Germany, all close results.
The Dutch leg turned out to be a valuable experience for the Indians, who are using this tournament to fine tune their grey areas ahead of this year’s two big ticket events — the FIH World Cup and the Asian Games, which is also an Olympic qualifier.
India are currently placed eighth in the nine-team Pro League standings, ahead of their next rival Pakistan, who are yet to log a point in the tournament.
India will next take England on Thursday and then face Pakistan again on Friday in their second leg match.
With two wins and as many losses, the Indians have produced a much-improved show in the European leg so far as against the home leg of the tournament where they failed to secure a single win across four matches.
During the home leg, India conceded a massive 19 goals while scoring only five from four matches.
Considering that, India’s chief coach Craig Fulton would be a lot more satisfied with the performances of his wards in the European leg, where they gave higher-ranked opponents a tough contest.
But going into Tuesday’s match, the Indians will have to control their emotions as any Indo-Pak contest is a high-voltage one with plenty of pride at stake, considering the ongoing political tensions between the two nations.
For coach Fulton, all these outings are a platform to test his resources and bench strength to build a well-oiled squad for the World Cup and the Asian Games.
But conceding late goals continue to be a problem area for India as, despite leading 3-1 against the Netherlands, they conceded a 59th minute goal to take the match closer.
India’s strength has been penalty corner conversions with the likes of Harmanpreet, Jugraj Singh and Rajinder Singh at their disposal, but Fulton would be expecting more field strikes from his forwardline, consisting of senior players like Mandeep Singh and Dilpreet Singh, among others.
The midfield has been well marshalled by India’s most-capped player Manpreet Singh, vice-captain Hardik Singh and Vivek Sagar Prasad but it is the backline which needs to pull up its socks.
Pakistan, on the other hand, have endured a miserable Pro League season, losing all their 11 matches against Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium and Spain, and is now staring at the prospect of relegation from the competition’s top tier.
Already reeling from a dismal campaign, uncertainty looms large over the availability of Pakistan regular captain Ammad Shakeel Butt and possibly head coach Manzur-ul-Hasan for the final leg of the tournament in England due to visa issues.
According to reports, Shakeel, a key figure in Pakistan’s defence, was denied a visa because he had previously overstayed in England while playing club hockey.
