Rourkela: The Indian men’s hockey team would look to leave behind last match’s disappointment and lift its game to the next level to stop the mighty Australians’ unbeaten run in a FIH Pro League match here Saturday.
The Indians played some exciting hockey against world No.1 Netherlands in their last match but lost 2-4 in shoot-out after the game ended in a 1-1 stalemate.
India are currently placed fourth in the standings with 11 points from six matches, while Australia are unbeaten so far, registering six outright wins from as many games.
Besides hoping to end their home campaign on a high, revenge will also be high on India’s mind as they squandered a two-goal lead to lose 4-6 to the Kookaburras earlier this month in Bhubaneswar.
But for that, the Harmanpreet Singh-led side will need to perform in unison in all departments of the game.
In their last match, the Indians didn’t have a very good day from penalty corners with the likes of Harmanpreet, Jugraj Singh, and Amit Rohitdas finding it difficult to get past Netherlands’ first rusher.
Come Saturday, Harmanpreet and his drag-flick colleagues need to have a perfect day to prevail over Australia.
The Indian defence had a fantastic outing against the Dutch and their man-to-man marking was a treat to watch, denying the opponents any space.
The co-ordination between the midfield and forward-line was near perfect.
The Indians used aerial ball to perfection to switch play from one side to the other. The long balls were also used to create scoring opportunities and the hosts will continue to do so to surprise their opponents in the coming two matches.
The focus would surely be on Indian defence, which needs to be on its toes to deny the Australians inroads.
The Indian forwards, on the other hand, need to capitalise of circle penetrations and convert the chances into goals.
India and Australia play similar style of hockey and mostly rely on attacking game. Saturday’s match promises to be an end-to-end contest.
India will round off their home Pro League campaign against Ireland Sunday.
PTI