One foot in final, India eye Pakistan bashing again
High on confidence following their impressive string of performances, an in-form India would look to maintain their unbeaten run when they take on arch-rivals Pakistan in their third and final Super 4 match of the 10th men’s Asia Cup, here on Saturday.
India, the top-ranked side in the tournament, will start as overwhelming favourites against the world ranked 13 Pakistan.
In the recent past, India have completely dominated Pakistan, winning six matches in a row so far. Barring the 1-1 draw against Korea in their first Super 4 match, India have been in good form in the tournament, having scored some beautiful field goals and displaying what they are best known for --- one-touch attacking hockey.The draw against Korea acted as the right catalyst for India as they came out all guns blazing against Malaysia and routed them 6-2 in their second Super 4 match on Thursday.
India are atop the table in Super 4 stage with four points from a win and a draw, followed by Malaysia (3 points), Korea (2 points) and Pakistan (1) from two games each.Come Saturday, a draw would be enough for India to seal their place in Sunday’s summit clash as they enjoy a better goal difference than any other side. But it would be easier said than done as Pakistan have nothing to lose. Pakistan’s qualification hopes are dim though.
Pakistan not only have to beat India by a big margin to stand a chance to qualify for the final but their fate will also depend on result of the other Super 4 match, between Korea and Malaysia.
With one foot in the final, the Indians though cannot afford to take Pakistan lightly.
All said and done, India are expected to come out with flying colours and any result apart from that would be a dampener .
What has been the hallmark and most eye-catching thing for India in the tournament is the performance of their forwardline.The Indian strikers, comprising Akashdeep Singh, Ramandeep Singh, SV Sunil, Lalit Upadhyay and young Gujrant Singh have been terrific upfront, scoring field goals throughout the meet.