An ideal begin to their marketing campaign with a dominant win over Spain, however, India will face a stern take a look at once they tackle an equally spectacular England of their second pool match of the FIH Males’s Hockey World Cup in Rourkela on Sunday. India outclassed Spain 2-0 with a close to flawless present of their opening Pool D match on Friday on the model new Birsa Munda stadium however England is an equally robust facet, if no more.
The house staff can’t drop the depth and high quality it confirmed in opposition to Spain as England too are on a excessive after a 5-0 thrashing of Wales of their opening match.
Egged on by a packed crowd on the 21,000 capability Birsa Munda stadium, India showcased excellent attacking hockey within the first two quarters and scored by native hero Amit Rohidas from a penalty nook earlier than Hardik Singh doubled the lead with a superb solo effort.
Skipper Harmanpreet Singh and his deputy Rohidas then produced a defensive masterclass — which galvanized head coach Graham Reid.
Harmanpreet and Co. would look to dish out one other sturdy defensive present in opposition to England, who scored a minimum of one objective every in all of the 4 quarters.
“It’s good to get the primary sport. What was pleasing was the defensive effort and we dealt with the ball very effectively. There weren’t too many individuals who didn’t play effectively. That’s what it’s essential win a World Cup. We have to proceed it within the subsequent sport,” Reid stated.
“The boys have been in a position to take the ball out of the objective. We additionally bought in entrance so much and that was crucial. We have been first with the ball and that makes quite a lot of distinction on this form of sport.” Veteran PR Sreejesh and Krishan Bahadur Pathak have been additionally of their components in entrance of the Indian objective however their English counterpart Oliver Payne was no much less as he thwarted some decided efforts from the Welshmen, particularly within the ultimate quarter.
The one weak spot of the Indians was penalty corners as they might in a roundabout way convert any of the 5 they secured in opposition to Spain.
Harmanpreet, the very best participant and high scorer of the staff in nearly each event in recent times, had an off day by his excessive requirements, as he missed a penalty stroke in addition to failing to seek out the goal from penalty corners.
He admitted his below-par present after the match, and can be seeking to make amends in opposition to England.
Not with the ability to convert penalty corners can price India pricey in opposition to a staff like England.
The Indian gamers can even must be cautious about stepping into the referee’s e book as they needed to play the main a part of the ultimate quarter with out Abhishek, who bought a yellow card for a foul.
A win in opposition to England is vital as that can take India one step nearer to the quarterfinals. The hosts will fancy their probabilities in opposition to Wales, the bottom ranked facet within the group at fifteenth, to high the pool, thought-about a bunch of loss of life.
England are one rung above India at fifth in world rankings and there may be not a lot to distinguish between the 2 sides prior to now yr and traditionally additionally.
Final yr, the 2 sides performed three matches in opposition to one another with their final sport, performed on the Commonwealth Video games in Birmingham, ending in a 4-4 draw. They performed out a 3-3 draw within the first leg of FIH Professional League earlier than India gained 4-3 within the second, each video games performed in April.
Nick Bandurak, who was the highest scorer within the 2002 CWG with 11 targets, was on the right track in opposition to Wales, as was Phil Roper who was one other prolific participant in Birmingham. England scored three subject targets, the third from Nicholas Park whereas Liam Ansell struck twice from penalty corners.
Traditionally, India had gained 10 matches as in opposition to seven by England whereas 4 video games resulted in attracts.
Spain will play Wales in one other Pool D match right here on Sunday.
The Squads (from): India: Abhishek, Surender Kumar, Manpreet Singh, Hardik Singh, Jarmanpreet Singh, Mandeep Singh, Harmanpreet Singh (captain), Lalit Upadhyay, Krishan Pathak, Nilam Sanjeep Xess, PR Sreejesh, Nilakanta Sharma, Shamsher Singh, Varun Kumar, Akashdeep Singh, Amit Rohidas (vice-captain), Vivek Sagar Prasad, Sukhjeet Singh England: David Ames (captain), James Albery, Liam Ansell, Nick Bandurak, Will Calnan, David Condon, David Goodfield, Harry Martin, James Mazarelo, Nick Park, Ollie Payne, Phil Roper, Scott Rushmere, Liam Sanford, Tom Sorsby, Zach Wallace, Jack Waller, Sam Ward.
Match Begins at 7pm IST.
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