The Indian men’s hockey team continued its dominance over the Pakistanbeating their rivals 4-3 in a FIH Pro League match at the Lee Valley Hockey and Tennis Center in London on Tuesday.India, who came into the match on the back of two great wins against the Netherlands and Germany, were certainly the better side and deservedly emerged victorious.However, they were in for a big shock when Pakistan scored the first goal in front of a sparse crowd. It came from a penalty corner in the eighth minute when Ahmad Nadeem scored through a variation that took the Indian defense completely by surprise.India responded strongly, scoring four goals through Abhishek (22′), Nilakanta Sharma (24′), Sukhjeet Singh (40′) and Rajinder Singh (52′) to put the game out of Pakistan’s reach.Pakistan, however, was not ready to give up. They picked up the pace, pegged India back and reduced the deficit in the 53rd minute when captain Abu Mahmood slotted a penalty through the legs of goalkeeper Suraj Karkera. Karkera, who otherwise played a good game, would have been disappointed if he did not sustain that effort.The action continued to swing from one end of the pitch to the other and India also had a chance to score after winning a penalty. They failed to convert, but Pakistan scored in the final minute when Moin Shakeel scored from a rebound after the visitors won their eighth penalty of the game.The win helped India extend their unbeaten streak against Pakistan, which dates back to 2016 when the Men in Blue lost South Asian games finally in Guwahati. The two teams will meet again on Friday, with India looking to maintain that record.Before that, India will face England in what should prove to be a tougher test. Meanwhile, Pakistan will play the hosts on Wednesday, although their fate is already sealed. With 13 consecutive defeats and no points, they are ready for relegation from the Pro League. On the other hand, India have 13 points from as many matches.Despite the win, there were some areas of concern for coach Craig Fulton, notably the failure to convert any of India’s 11 penalty kicks and a tendency to concede the ball easily late in the game – something that also happened against Germany.But what will please Fulton is how clinical his players were inside the circle. The goals they scored were brilliant, with Abhishek and Sukhjeet’s goals in particular worthy of any highlight.Now one can only wait to see if India can reproduce this goal-scoring performance against England as well.
