After a lacklustre effort and a deserved defeat to England, India will look for a brighter performance against New Zealand in their second game of the FIH Hockey World League Final at the Major Dhyan Chand National Stadium in New Delhi on Saturday night.
Where to Watch Live
The India vs New Zealand match is scheduled for an 8 pm IST start, while action on Saturday begins from 2 pm IST. All four games will be shown live on Ten Action (in Hindi) and Ten Sports in India. Catch the action via free live streaming across the world HERE.
India were barely there as an attacking force against England on Friday, suffering a 2-0 loss, with penetrations inside the opponents' box few and far between, while also being ineffective when they did get inside the opponent's half.
The Indians also failed to utilise their penalty corners - with all four of them failing to add a number other than zero to the scoreboard.
Coach Terry Walsh will know his side will have to be much more purposeful going forward if they are to pick up their first win of the tournament.
"[The] first half was a close game where we had corners but couldn't convert," Walsh said after the game. "We have to work on delivering the ball in the mid field. We are good at penalty corners but we were not up to the mark today. There were moments where we could have changed the game but did not work for us."
England had much more tactical nous in the final third, able to penetrate when necessary, while also keeping possession in the final third a lot better.
"The first half was a bit rusty but in the second half the boys caught on and starting making the right passes. We restricted their chances of converting the penalty corners," England coach Bobby Crutchley said.
India, time and again, lost control of the ball in the crucial phase of the attack, with not even Sardar Singh able to inspire his side, while youngster Affan Yousuf was the brightest player going forward for the home side.
New Zealand did not have the greatest of starts either, thumped by Germany 6-1 in the earlier game on Friday, the opening day of the inaugural Hockey World League Final.
"Days like this are hard," Black Sticks player Alex Shaw said. "Germany took all their chances and we didn't. We knew it was going to be tough, but they played very well."
Saturday's schedule: Pool B: Belgium vs Argentina (2 pm IST), Netherlands vs Australia (4 pm). Pool A: England vs Germany (6 pm IST), India vs New Zealand (8 pm IST).
