FIH Hockey Pro League: Hardik Singh proves to be India’s heartbeat, PR Sreejesh stands tall again as hosts edge out Netherlands in thriller | Hockey News

That Hardik Singh is the heartbeat of the Indian men’s hockey team couldn’t have been more evident than on Sunday in Bhubaneswar. The vice-captain was at the centre of most things good his side did in the FIH Hockey Pro League match against world No. 1 Netherlands. In a riveting game between two top sides, India took the lead through Hardik and scored an equaliser late on thanks to captain Harmanpreet Singh, from a PC that his deputy won. A 2-2 draw saw the teams share a point each before PR Sreejesh showed in class in the shootout as India won an additional bonus point.
It wasn’t quite two teams going all-out attacking throughout the game, it was a bit of ‘cat-and-mouse’ as Dutch coach Jeroen Delmee put it at half time. But the match built up into a nice crescendo before India edged it in the end.
Speaking before the match, India head coach Craig Fulton hoped that India would match themselves well up against the world No. 1 and, while there were a few worrying makes, the South African would have been pleased with what he saw overall.
Hardik, India’s heartbeat
A year back, Hardik’s injury in the middle of the World Cup proved to be a tough one to overcome for India. Having started the tournament so well, he was heartbroken and eventually, so were India, after a pre-quarterfinal defeat against New Zealand.
Sunday was another reminder of how much India missed him then, as he ran the show from the centre of midfield. The Dutch started the match brilliantly, looking to catch the Indian defence off guard with long passes – both aerial and on the ground. The ball was pinging off their sticks with impressive rhythm and for most of the opening quarter, India had to hang in, with some sharp deep defending.
It was one of those long passes that India managed to break down that led to the opening goal. Hardik ran with the ball for more than half the length of the field to find Sukhjeet Singh. The forward held the ball and slid a pass back to Hardik.
One of Fulton’s mantras is to play with control and the finish from Hardik was all about that. He took a touch and then guided the ball into the net as if he was gently passing a ball to his teammate, only this one beat the Dutch goalkeeper Maurits Visser, who seemed to be surprised that the ball came at him from an acute angle.
A combination of good defence and one moment of brilliance from Hardik gave India the lead against the run of play. Hardik then produced a superb steal five minutes into the second quarter as he read a Dutch long pass well. A couple of minutes later, he came up with a fine dribble to win a penalty corner for India with clever direction change and 3D skills.
But the Dutch are the world’s top side for a reason and they found goals on either side of the half time to go into the lead. At the very end of Q2, Manpreet Singh’s diving interception was deemed to be deliberately sending the ball behind the line and Jip Janssen fired it in from the Penalty Corner.
With Fulton saying his team had to get better at avoiding turnover of possessions, the start of Q3 saw India lose the ball more often. From one such turnover at midfield, the Netherlands had a spell of possession that resulted in a PC. This time Koen Bijen reacted sharpest among those in the circle to score off a rebound.
Even when India had an ordinary third quarter, it was Hardik who drove the team forward. The final quarter saw India start things off in top gear, and their bravery would be rewarded late on. Hardik reacted quickest to a loose ball in the Netherlands’ attacking third and drew a push from the Dutch defence. Harmanpreet was quick to refer this to the video umpire and India had a PC with two minutes left.
Sreejesh delivers again
Coach Delmee’s one wish before the match was that his side would have to keep India away from penalty corner situations, but after defending well till then, it would prove to be the decisive moment. After a good night from set pieces against Spain, India’s drag flickers didn’t have the best of times… until this instance. Hardik stepped up to inject, and Harmanpreet fired in his best drag flick of the night, scoring the equaliser on his 200th appearance for India.
India had taken their goalkeeper off with 2:43 left in the match and scored the equaliser. But shortly after, their talisman PR Sreejesh was back on the pitch and produced a fine save in the dying moments to take his side to a shootout. And there, he’d shine again, starting with a stunning reflex save before preventing another Dutch goal holding his ground. No stranger to last-minute interventions, Sreejesh ensured India would stay unbeaten over the weekend (after an impressive outing against Spain too) to send out a timely reminder at the start of the Olympic year that he is still the main man between the posts.
In the end, winning the player-of-the-match award, Hardik said: “We showed the standard where we want to be.” Five points from two matches to start the Pro League is a good reflection of that sentiment.
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Scorers (regulation time): India 2-2 Netherlands – Hardik Singh (13′), Harmanpreet Singh (58′), Jip Janssen (30′), Koen Bijen (39′)