Rourkela, Feb 24:
The Indian men’s hockey team is up and ready to take on Australia in the FIH Hockey Pro League 2023-24 on Saturday in what will be their seventh match of the tournament.
Indiakicked off their campaign in Bhubaneswar with a convincing 4-1 victory over Spain, followed by a thrilling 2-2 (4-2) shootout win against the Netherlands, the top-ranked team in the world.
India then lost 4-6 toAustralia but bounced back with a 1-0 triumph over Ireland to concludethe Bhubaneswar leg on a high. India then emerged triumphant against Spain in a shootout (8-7) after the score was tied at 2-2 in regulationtime in their first match of the Rourkela leg.
This was followed by another thrilling match that went to a penalty shootout after the scoreread 1-1 in regulation time with India losing the shootout to theNetherlands 2-4.
The Indian team will next take on Australia to whom they lost 4-6 in their last meeting which took placein Bhubaneswar earlier this month. India, however, will draw inspirationfrom the fact that they won on both occasions in Rourkela when the twofaced off in the FIH Hockey Pro League 2022/23, winning the games 5-4and 2-2(4-3 SO).
Speaking about the upcoming match againstAustralia, Krishan B. Pathak, goalkeeper, said, “Our last encounter with Australia was a tightly contested game, and,unfortunately, we ended up on the wrong side. We’ve identified the areasthat require improvement and are aware of what we need to do to turnthe result in our favour this time.”
He added, “Everyone on the team is in agood headspace. We have played some good hockey and are playing well asa team. It’s a matter of taking control of those important moments. Wewill go out there and fight till the very end.”
India will take on Australia at 19:30 hours IST.
