Bhubaneswar: Back-to-back victories against Ireland would have given India the confidence to go into the FIH men’s Pro League contest against higher-ranked England on Monday with renewed vigour, after having started the home leg on a topsy-turvy note.
India are currently placed fourth in the table with 12 points from six games and would be desperately looking for some more success before the home leg of the tournament concludes.
England, on the other hand, are third on the table with 13 points from six games and would be looking to overcome the humiliating 1-4 defeat at the hands of Spain.
Paris Olympic Games bronze medallists India haven’t had a great start to the new season with the team having mixed luck against Spain and
Germany at the Kalinga Hockey Stadium.
The team suffered a shocking 1-3 defeat to Spain, the side they had beaten to clinch the bronze in Paris, before coming back strongly in the second fixture to win 2-0. Their patchy form and frailties with penalty-corner conversion were on show again in the 1-4 loss to Germany.
However, Harmanpreet Singh’s return to the side in the second game infused confidence and the home team avenged the loss with a solitary-goal win.
The two emphatic wins against Ireland, placed last in the nine-team table, would certainly have boosted their morale going into the contest against the third-ranked team
in the world.
The likes of Mandeep Singh, Jarmanpreet Singh, Sukhjeet Singh, Nilam Xess, Abhishek, and Shamsher Singh finding their rhythm in the 3-1
and 4-0 victories against Ireland bodes well for the fifth-ranked Indian side.
England have been stung by the 1-4 loss to Spain after the shootout victory and would be itching to get back to winning ways.
In search of a much-needed win, England will bank on their ace goal-scorer Sam Ward, who has nine hits to his name and is ranked second
among the highest goal-scorers in the League.
It’s no surprise that Ward’s heroics have seen England score the second-most goals in the competition so far (20).
However, their attack won’t have it easy against a resolute Indian defence.
India’s back-line has been the most effective in the Pro League 2024-25 season so far as they have conceded just eight goals, which is the least among the nine teams.