Asian heavyweights India take on arch-rivals Pakistan in the much-anticipated Asia Cup 2017 encounter at the Maulana Bhashani National Hockey Stadium in Dhaka on Sunday, October 15.
India have begun the continental tournament on a high under newly-appointed coach Sjoerd Marine by clinching a 5-1 win against Japan in the opener before crushing group minnows and hosts Bangladesh in the second Pool A encounter.
The Dutchman though will face a sterner test as the pressure of leading an Indian team against Pakistan will take a toll even on the best tacticians. Former coach Roelant Oltmans stressed on the need for players to be focussed on the job in hand. Under Oltmans, India demolished Pakistan twice at the Hockey World League semi-final (7-1, 6-1 in the group stage, classification matches respectively) in London.
Despite the thrashings, Pakistan will take confidence from the way they have dominated India at Asia Cup meetings. India, the three-time Asia Cup champions, have managed only one win in six meetings against their arch-rivals -- in 2003 final in Kuala Lumpur. Their last meeting at Kuantan in 2009 ended in the Men in Green's favour as they took the match 3-2.
Pakistan, who are second in Pool A table with four points, will also wary of Japan (1), who have a chance of leapfrogging them and making the Super 4s stages for which India have already qualified. The lower-ranked Japanese side though are favourites against hosts Bangladesh, but they need to win big if they are to stun the Men in Green.
On the other hand, Pakistan will qualify to the Super 4s if they manage a draw or even avoid a huge defeat against India later today. Earlier in the tournament, the Men in Green started with a 7-0 win over Bangladesh, but they were held by Japan 2-2 on Friday.
Meanwhile, India have been brilliant with their attacking intent. 13 goals over two games would have made coach Marine happy, but India's poor conversation rate of penalty corners is a cause of concern. India managed to convert only two of the 13 penalty corners in the game against Bangladesh.
While India will be boosted by their recent form, Pakistan will take inspiration from their Asia Cup history when the two teams meet in what is expected to be a cracker of a contest later today.
When is the match and how to watch it live
India take on Pakistan in the Pool A encounter at 5.30 pm local time, 5 pm IST.
Live streaming and TV coverage
India: TV: Star Sports 2/HD; Live streaming: Hotstar
Malaysia: TV: Astro Arena/HD ; Live streaming: Astro Go
Pakistan: TV: PTV; Live streaming: PTV Sports Live
Japan: TV: TV Tokyo
Squads
India
Akash Chikte (goalkeeper), Suraj Karkera (goalkeeper), Dipsan Tirkey, Kothajit Singh, Surender Kumar, Harmanpreet Singh, Varun Kumar, SK Uthappa, Sardar Singh, Manpreet Singh (captain), Chinglensana Singh, Sumit, SV Sunil, Akashdeep Singh, Ramandeep Singh, Lalit Kumar Upadhyay, Gurjant Singh and Satbir Singh.
Pakistan
Mazhar Abbas (goal keeper), Amjad Ali (goal keeper), Muhammad Irfan (captain), Atif Mushtaq, Mubashar Ali, Ammad Shakeel Butt, Abu Bakar Mahmood, Tasawwar Abbas, Rashid Mahmood, Rizwan Jr, Arslan Qadir, Azfar Yaqoob, Umar Bhutta, Rizwan Sr, Ali Shan, Muhammad Atiq, Waqas Akbar and Ajaz Ahmad.
