The Indian men’s hockey team continued their domination over Pakistan, beating their rivals 4-3 in an FIH Pro League match at Lee Valley Hockey and Tennis Centre in London on Tuesday.India, coming into the match on the back of two splendid wins against the Netherlands and Germany, were certainly the better side and deservedly emerged victorious.However, they were in for a major shock when Pakistan scored the opening goal in front of a sparse crowd. It came from a penalty corner in the eighth minute as Ahmad Nadeem found the net through a variation that took the Indian defence completely by surprise.India responded strongly, scoring four goals through Abhishek (22′), Nilakanta Sharma (24′), Sukhjeet Singh (40′) and Rajinder Singh (52′) to seemingly put the game beyond Pakistan’s reach.Pakistan, though, were not ready to give up. They raised the tempo, pushed India back and reduced the deficit in the 53rd minute when captain Abu Mahmood scored from a penalty corner through the legs of goalkeeper Suraj Karkera. Karkera, who otherwise had a good game, would have been disappointed not to keep that effort out.The action continued to swing from one end of the pitch to the other, and India also had an opportunity to score after earning a penalty corner. They failed to convert, but Pakistan made their count in the final minute when Moin Shakeel scored from the rebound after the visitors won their eighth penalty corner of the match.The victory helped India extend their unbeaten run against Pakistan, which stretches back to 2016 when the Men in Blue lost the South Asian Games final in Guwahati. The two teams will meet again on Friday, and India will be keen to maintain that record.Before that, India will face England in what should prove a sterner test. Pakistan, meanwhile, will take on the hosts on Wednesday, although their fate is already sealed. With 13 consecutive defeats and no points, they are set to be relegated from the Pro League. India, on the other hand, 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 corners and the tendency to concede easy PCs late in the match – something that had also happened against Germany.What will please Fulton, though, is how clinical his players were inside the circle. The goals they scored were splendid, with the strikes from Abhishek and Sukhjeet in particular being worthy of any highlight reel.One can now only wait to see whether India can reproduce this goal-scoring performance against England as well.
