Sultan Azlan Shah Cup: India beat Pakistan

A spirited India beat Pakistan in a must-win match to keep alive their hopes in the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup hockey tournament by notching up a come-from-behind 3-1 win over their arch-rivals, here today.

India were in a spot of bother ahead of the match after losing their opening two encounters, and another loss today would have virtually shut the door on Michael Nobbs’ wards.

But, it was not to be, as India scored through Rupinder Pal Singh (5th minute), Akashdeep Singh (9th) and Mandeep Singh (56th) to seal the issue in their favour after Mohammad Waqas gave Pakistan the lead in the fourth minute of the game.

By virtue of today’s win, India have moved up in the team standings to the fourth position ahead of Pakistan with three points from as many games.

It was an enthralling encounter between the two Asian giants, who adopted a cautious approach in the initial stages of the match.

Going by the share of ball possession, Pakistan, by far, were the better side on display at least in the opening half.

The Pakistanis put the Indian defence under tremendous pressure in the opening few minutes of the game.

Their efforts produced result immediately when Waqas deflected in skipper Muhammad Imran’s flick after Pakistan tried a variation from their first penalty corner.

But the Indians hardly took any time to bounce back as they pumped in two goals in a span of five minutes to stun their neighbours.

Rupinder restored parity for India in the fifth minute converting India’s only penalty corner of the match with a fierce drag-flick which beat Pakistan goal-keeper Imran Butt all ends up.

Four minutes later, an opportunist Akashdeep put India ahead, slamming in a rebound after Nithin Thimmiah’s initial shot was stopped by Pakistan custodian Shah.

Pakistan had an off day in office which can be gauged from the fact that they only managed to convert one out of the eight penalty corners that came their way.

The Pakistanis also found it difficult to get the better of an agile P R Sreejesh, who was brilliant under the Indian goal.

Sreejesh was in ominous form as he pulled off as many as six to seven brilliant saves, one of which came just at the stroke of the half time, to deny the Pakistanis any scoring chance.

Leading 2-1, the Indians looked more organised after the change of ends even as Pakistan were desperately hunting for the equaliser.

Pakistan’s task became even more difficult when Mandeep scored India’s third goal in the 56th minute. Mandeep scored from a rebound after his initial touch was gloved away by Shah.

Trailing 1-3, the stunned Pakistanis pressed hard for goals and in the process earned three penalty corners but Indian goalkeeper Sreejesh stood in between them and goal on all the three occasions.

After a rest day tomorrow, India will play defending champions New Zealand, who beat Korea 0-3 in the first match of the day while Pakistan will be up against hosts Malaysia.

India’s chief coach Micheal Nobbs said he has every reason to be delighted with the win, which put India back on the track after consecutive defeats in the opening two matches of the Azlan Shah Cup.

The coach, however, was not satisfied with the overall performance of his team, but singled out P R Sreejesh for special praise for his sterling display under the Indian goal.

“It is still a development side and the inexperience showed in many aspects. Thankfully, the defence held its own and due credit to goalkeeper Sreejesh whose saves were the deciding factor,” Nobbs said after the much-needed victory over Pakistan.

Pakistan coach Akhtar Rasool rued his team’s missed chances and said they were, by far, the better side on the turf today.

“Our team dished out a better brand of hockey but inexperience of the boys let us down. The team clearly missed a good striker. Indian goalkeeper Sreejesh seemed to have all the answers today,” Rasool said.