Doha: India which lost to Pakistan in the Champions Trophy bronze medal match is determined to give their arch-rivals a tough time in today’s crucial Asian Champions Trophy match.
The Green Shirts enjoy a world No.5 ranking and go into the match with a new found confidence after their success in Australia.
The two clashed Down Under, two weeks back, where Pakistan defeated India 3-2, to win the Champions Trophy medal after a gap of eight years.
Indian coach Michael Nobbs once again reiterated that Pakistan is the favouritie while on the other hand his young side is determined to give the best.
“A thriller is on the cards, no doubt about it. We hope the stadium will be packed. I repeat Pakistan is the favourities. They have three players (Abassi, Imran and Waseem) who have played 600 matches between them. But, we are not here to make up for the numbers. We will try to go for a win. Ours is a young team with only Sardar Singh having played more than 170 matches, overnight you cannot have experience. The young players are shaping well to the international exposure. Our plan is to build a team for the future and have a pool of 30 players,” said Nobbs.
“Defenders will be play a crucial role for both the teams,” said the Australian.
Indian captain Sardar Singh said the youngsters are all ready for the key encounter and hoped the packed stadium will motivate the teams to give their best
“There is no pressure on us. We will try to take it easy and enjoy the game. India and Pakistan both play attacking hockey and everyone enjoys it,” said Sardar.
For Pakistan goalkeeper Imran Butt matches involving the sub-continent teams is like a pressure cooker situation for players and the performance is always under the miscroscope in such matches.
“Pressure game! This match is important for both teams. Expectations are high. If you don’t perform against any other team people won’t mind, but, a loss against India is unacceptable. It is the same for India as well. The crowd gets behind you and there will be so much happening around. It is test for everyone,” said Butt.
His counterpart in the goal echoed the same lines.
“Sometimes you do everything right and still end up on the receiving end. Experience plays an important role in pressure matches like India and Pakistan but ultimately it boils down to waht you do on that day under the bar,” said India’s goalkeeper PT Rao.
Two of Pakistan’s experienced players - Shakeel Abassi and Waseem Ahmed said all matches between two countries were tough.
“These matches (India-Pakistan) are always pressure matches and young players get nurtured quickly because they get use to handling high pressures situations. Today’s hockey is all about soaking the pressure and players who manage to survive the pressure will definitely come up as a very good player,” said Shakeel.
Ahmed and Abassi have played a combined 370 matches between them and are the two most capped players in the Pakistan side.
Pakistan team Manager and ex-Olympian Akhtar Rasool said there is plenty of tension in the air when India and Pakistan teams play in any sport and hockey is not an exception.
“I think whoever handles the pressure well will win. It is a tough test for the players,” said Rasool.The Peninsula
