India, Pak share honours in Asia Cup opener, colts show need for fine-tuning

India-Pakan hockey matches are always robust encounters, full of adrenalin, eye-catching individual skill and end-to-end action. But given the generally callow nature of both teams at the Asia Cup and lack of coordination among the two units, it had to be expected that the marquee contest wouldn’t rise to any great heights.
It didn’t look like a high-voltage fixture between two teams who have won the continental title six times between them.
India has had the upper hand in almost all the recent encounters. In that context, a 1-1 result against the traditional rivals would have been considered a bit of a disappointment. But with nothing tangible riding on the tournament for the Tokyo Olympics bronze medalls (spots are up for grabs for the next World Cup, but India qualify automatically as hosts), they can afford to look at the bigger picture.
SV Sunil and Birendra Lakra were the tenuous links with Indian teams of the recent past with the rest almost exclusively made up of Junior World Cup winners and second-string reserves. Most of India’s best chances came from penalty corners, but they had only one conversion to show for them – Karti Selvam’s drag flick getting a deflection off Pakan defender Muhammad Abdullah’s stick, thus wrongfooting custodian Akmal Hussain in the first quarter.

Here are the highlights from our first match against Pakan in the Hero Asia Cup 2022, which took place at the GBK Hockey field in Jakarta, Indonesia.#IndiaKaGame #HockeyIndia #HeroAsiaCup #INDvsPAK #MatchDay @CMO_Odisha @sports_odisha @IndiaSports @Media_SAI pic.twitter.com/tQxEzIdjFM
— Hockey India (@TheHockeyIndia) May 23, 2022
It was the only time Hussain was beaten in the game, and was rightly adjudged player of the match as he kept his team in the contest before they snatched a point at the very end.
Pakan hockey, which has been in the doldrums for the last several years after not making a few major events in succession amidst a financial crunch, would dearly love to be at the World Cup but are taking a pragmatic view and treating the Asia Cup as part of a rebuilding phase.
They looked the more dominant team from open play and had their forwards been more clinical and accurate in front of goal, they wouldn’t have had to wait till the penultimate minute of the game for their equaliser – which came when Abdul Rana found the target from close range after the initial drag-flick had been blocked on the line.
It didn’t look like a high-voltage fixture between two teams who have won the continental title six times between them. (Hockey India)
Lot to work on
It is former captain Sardar Singh’s first formal coaching assignment as he asss BJ Kariappa in the dugout. They will need to refine co-ordination as well as enhance composure and clinical finishing before facing reigning Asian Games gold medalls Japan on Tuesday.
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“It’s a young team and they need to improve in penalty corner conversion and capitalisation of chances,” Lakra, who was appointed captain after original skipper Rupinder Pal Singh pulled out due to injury, said after the game. “In a high-intensity match, one has to make use of the opportunities.”
As far as match statics are concerned, both teams were evenly matched on shots on goal (11) and circle penetrations (9). India enjoyed a slight upper hand in ball possession (55 percent). But for a team which has been traditionally very strong in penalty corners, India will be disappointed in converting only one of eight such opportunities, double of what Pakan earned.
In the bigger picture, for India this tournament could be a stepping stone towards the Commonwealth Games and the Asian Games. (Hockey India)
In the bigger picture, for India this tournament could be a stepping stone towards the Commonwealth Games and the Asian Games (regardless of when the latter is held and the players selected for the two events). Simranjeet Singh, one of the heroes for India in the bronze medal playoff against Germany at the Tokyo Olympics, made his much-awaited return from injury and could have won it for India with just a few seconds left if he had hit the target.
He was not alone in his profligacy. There were several occasions when a calm head and a stick in the right place would have resulted in an Indian goal and three points from the opening encounter.

At the other end, Suraj Karkera in goal had to be alert on several occasions to deny Pakan when they got hold of the ball in front of the cage. India may have reason to be satisfied with their last-ditch tackling, which often denied opposition forwards who got flustered and failed to hit the target.
Given that Korea, Japan and Malaysia began their respective campaigns with convincing wins, India will need to raise their game if they are to match them in games to come.