A perfect start to their campaign with an impressive win over Spain, however, India Will face a tough test when they take on an equally impressive England in their second pool match of the FIH Men’s Hockey World Cup in Rourkela on Sunday.
India whitewashed Spain 2-0 in their opening Pool D match at the brand-new Birsa Munda Stadium on Friday, but England are an equally tough side, if not more so.
The home team cannot discount the intensity and quality they showed against Spain as England are also riding high after thrashing Wales 5-0 in their first match.
FIH World Cup 2023: India begin title run with 2-0 win against Spain
Cheered on by a packed crowd at the 21,000-capacity Birsa Munda Stadium, India displayed superb attacking hockey in the first two quarters with local hero Amit Rohidas scoring a penalty corner, before Hardik Singh took the lead with a superb solo effort. doubled.
Captain Harmanpreet Singh and his deputy Rohidas then produced a defensive masterclass – one that impressed head coach Graham Reid.
what: india vs england hwc 2023 match
When: 15 January
Where: Birsa Munda International Hockey Stadium, Rourkela
time: 7 PM IST
Harmanpreet & Co. would like to put in another strong defensive performance against England, conceding at least one goal in all the four quarters.
“It’s good to get the first game. The defensive effort was pleasant and we handled the ball well. There weren’t many guys who didn’t play well. That’s what you need to win the World Cup. We need to continue that in the next game.” is,” Reid said.
“The boys were able to get the ball out of goal. We also got in front a lot and that was very important. We were first with the ball and that makes a big difference in a game like this.”
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Experienced PR Sreejesh and Krishna Bahadur Pathak were also in front of the Indian goal but their English counterpart Oliver Payne was no less as he thwarted some determined efforts from the Welshmen, especially in the final quarter.
The only weakness for the Indians was penalty corners as they could not convert any of the five they got against Spain into direct goals.
The team’s best player and top scorer in almost every tournament in recent years, Harmanpreet had an off day from his high standards as he missed a penalty stroke apart from failing to find the target from a penalty corner.
He acknowledged his poor performance after the match and would look to improve against England.
Not converting penalty corners against a team like England could cost India dearly.
The Indian players would also be wary of getting caught in the referee’s book as they had to play a major part of the last quarter without Abhishek, who was yellow carded for a foul.
A win against England is important as it will take India one step closer to the quarterfinals. The hosts will fancy their chances against Wales, the 15th-ranked team topping the pool, which is considered to be the group of death.
England are fifth in the world rankings, a rung above India and there hasn’t been much to differentiate the two sides over the past year and historically too.
Last year, the two sides played three matches against each other with their last game played at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, which ended in a 4-4 draw. They played in a 3–3 draw in the first leg of the FIH Pro League, before India won 4–3 in the second leg, both matches played in April.
Nick Bandurak, who was top scorer in the 2002 CWG with 11 goals, was on target against Wales, as was Phil Roper who was another prolific player at Birmingham. England scored three field goals, the third from Nicholas Park while Liam Ansell scored twice from penalty corners.
Historically, India had won 10 matches against England’s seven while four matches ended in draws.
Spain will play Wales in another Pool D match on Sunday.
full squad
India: Abhishek, Surendra Kumar, Manpreet Singh, Hardik Singh, Jarmanpreet Singh, Mandeep Singh, Harmanpreet Singh (c), Lalit Upadhyay, Krishna Pathak, Neelam Sanjeep X, PR Sreejesh, Neelkant Sharma, Shamsher Singh, Varun Kumar, Akashdeep Singh, Amit Rohidas (Vice-Captain), Vivek Sagar Prasad, Sukhjit Singh
England: David Ames (c), James Alberry, Liam Ansell, Nick Bandurak, Will Callanan, David Condon, David Goodfield, Harry Martin, James Mazzarello, Nick Park, Ollie Payne, Phil Roper, Scott Rushmere, Liam Sanford, Tom Sorsby, Zach Wallace , Jack Waller, Sam Ward.
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(This story has not been edited by News18 staff and is published from a syndicated news agency feed)