It was close and India were lucky to force a 2-2 draw. At one stage we were reduced to nine and I wasn’t happy with Sarbjit Singh and Devinder Walmiki, who went for wrong tackles to be rightly punished. The match had a few exciting moments but there was something missing.
India played the European style, with four halves and four forwards. Birender Lakra looked the best in defence and attack. Sardar Singh’s flair was missing. Forwards looked good in patches, but lacked support. India felt the absence of Sunil Kumar, who at right wing is a threat to any defence. Nevertheless, Nikken, Ramandeep and Akashdeep stretched the Pakistan defence, particularly in the third quarter and goalkeeper Irfan Butt had to make two splendid saves. Pakistan didn’t give Lakra room in midfield. They were slow at the start as India made all the moves. During this phase Yuvraj Walmiki was hit on the shin and that affected the Indian attack. Pakistan followed the pyramid style to blunt Indian raids.
Waqas’ speed was a threat to the defence. Devinder indulged in foul play at the end of the first quarter as India got the first goal against the run of play. The hard-working Gurmail produced a lovely through that beat the defence and an alert Ramandeep struck home.
Pakistan nearly equalised but Sreejesh’s anticipation denied them shortly into the second quarter. Pakistan controlled the game from midfield in this period. They put pressure on the defence and got two penalty-corners. Off the second, a shaky Devinder conceded a penalty stroke that skipper Muhammad Irfan converted.
India too got penalty-corners, but without Rupinderpal Singh and VR Raghunath, chances went abegging. With the match evenly balanced, Satbir made a silly mistake as his stick hit Imran in the face and he had to go out with a yellow card.
India started the third quarter with 10 players and had to play a defensive game. Pakistan worked the ball well and Jasjit nearly gave away a goal. Thanks to an error by Sardar, Pakistan got their third penalty-corner, which put them 2-1 up. India regrouped well and began controlling the ball with Lakra playing a pivotal role. India equalised when Yuvraj released the ball nicely and Ramandeep got a second.
India were reduced to nine after a yellow card put Devinder out of action. DEspite that India made attacks. Butt at the Pakistan goal rose to the occasion and made brilliant saves. Sreejesh did that at the other end. India need a pool of drag-flickers. Otherwise, there will be trouble. The defence did well in the closing minutes.
I would like the forwards to be more enterprising and Sardar to try his hand at that. Manpreet isn’t as effective as Rupinderpal or Raghunath.