- India are playing Pakistan in their third and final Super 4 match of the Asia Cup in Bangladesh on Saturday, 21 October.
- The match will be telecast on Star Sports and Hotstar at 5 pm IST.
With no losses and just one draw, India has been a dominating side at the Asia Cup hockey tournament that kicked-off in Bangladesh earlier this month. But as expected, the one match that caught everyone’s attention was India’s 3-1 win against Pakistan on 15 October.
As the tournament draws towards its business end, India once again take on arch-rivals Pakistan in their third and final Super 4 match on Saturday, 21 October.
India are atop the table in the Super 4 stage, with four points from a win and a draw, followed by Malaysia (3 points), Korea (2 points) and Pakistan (1) from two games each.
And on Saturday, 21 October, a draw would be enough for India to seal their place in Sunday's summit clash as they enjoy a better goal difference than any other side.
Pakistan, on the other hand, not only would have to beat India by a big margin to stand a chance to qualify for the final, but their fate will also depend on the result of the other Super 4 match.
India, therefore, do hold an edge, having triumphed over their opponents in the last five encounters and also as they entered the tournaments as favourites. The big wins over the only other teams in the group, of course, do help.
Now with another day to go for the big clash, here’s a little throwback of the last seven encounters between the South Asian rivals:
India Defeat Pak 3-1 in Asia Cup
After defeating them twice at the Hockey World League Semi-Final in June this year, India – for the first time under coach Sjoerd Marijne – took on Pakistan at the 10th men’s Asia Cup tournament on 15 October and defeated them 3-1 in a pool A encounter.
India controlled the proceedings for the better part of the match, barring the final quarter when Pakistan, trailing 0-3, came hard on the Indian defense in search of goals.
Chinglesnsana Singh (17th minute), Ramandeep Singh (44th) and Harmanpreet Singh (45th) scored the goals for India, while Pakistan lone strike came off the stick of Ali Shan in the 49th minute.
India Beat Pakistan Twice in World Series Hockey
India beat Pakistan 7-1
After a long hiatus, India vs Pakistan hockey made a comeback in June this year when the two teams faced each other in a Pool B match of the Hockey World League Semi-Final.
Drag flicker Harmanpreet Singh scored twice, in the 13th and 33rd minute; Talwinder Singh also bagged a brace, in the 21st and 24th minute; Akashdeep capitalised in the 47th and 59th minute, and Pardeep Mor finished with one in the 49th minute.
Muhammad Umar Bhutta was Pakistan’s lone goal-scorer as India picked up their third straight win of the tournament and booked a spot in the quarter-finals as well.
India beat Pakistan 6-1
The two teams faced-off once again later in the tournament, but it was only a 5th-6th position classification game. However, India still picked up consolation points from their fans by once again thrashing Pakistan. This time with a 6-1 scoreline.
Ramandeep Singh (8th and 31st minute), Talwinder Singh (25th), Harmapreet Singh (36th), and Mandeep Singh (27th and 59th) were the scorers in this encounter.
India Beat Pakistan Twice in Asian Champions Trophy
Group Match: India 3-2 Pakistan (23 October 2016)
India had to dig deep into their reserves to eke out a 3-2 victory over arch-rivals and defending champions Pakistan in a league match of the Asian Champions Trophy in Malaysia last week.
Young striker Pradeep Mor scored his maiden goal in 13 international appearances to give India the lead in the 11th minute, but Pakistan then took charge through strikes from Muhammad Rizwan Sr in the 31st minute and Muhammad Irfan Jr in the 39th.
Rupinder Pal Singh converted India's only penalty corner in the 43rd minute and Ramandeep Singh came into goal-scoring action the following minute by deflecting in a diagonal cross from Talwinder Singh.
Final: India 3-2 Pakistan (31st October, 2016)
Favourites India prevailed 3-2 over arch-rivals Pakistan to reclaim the Asian Champions Trophy at Kuantan in October last year.
Goals from Rupinder Pal Singh (18th minute), Yousuf Affan (23rd) and Nikkin Thimmaiah (51st) helped India surmount the challenge from Pakistan, who rallied from two goals behind through strikes by Muhammad Aleem Bilal (26th) and Ali Shaan (38th) in the title clash of the fourth edition of the tournament.
India won the inaugural edition of the Asian Champions Trophy by defeating Pakistan in the 2011 final. Pakistan reversed the result in the title contest the next year and retained it in 2013 by defeating Japan in the final.
India Thrash Pakistan 5-1 in Azlan Shah Cup
SV Sunil struck twice as India thrashed their neighbours 5-1 in a round-robin fixture of the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup at Ipoh in April 2016.
Five-time former champions, India got on the board first with SV Sunil helping Manpreet Singh open the account in the fourth minute. Their opponents in green though equalised just 3 minutes later, Muhammad Irfan converting a penalty corner.
The 10th minute saw SV Sunil then add to India’s tally as they closed the first quarter with a 2-1 lead.
Pakistan could not add any more goals to their tally in the three quarters that followed, even as India seemed to have no trouble on that front.
SV Sunil got his second in the 41st minute, Talwinder Singh scored India’s fourth in the 50th, and Rupinder Pal Singh ended all hopes of a Pakistan comeback four minutes later by ticking the scorecard to 5-1.
Two Matches in the 12th South Asian Games
India played Pakistan twice in the 12th South Asian Games at Guwahati in February, earlier this year, and lost both their matches.
Group Match: India 1-2 Pakistan (8 February 2016)
In the first match of the round robin format, Pakistan got the better of the hosts as Muhammad Arslan Qadir scored both the goals for Pakistan.
Final: India 0-1 Pakistan (12 February 2016)
Both the teams met again in the final and it was Pakistan who had the last laugh again, as Awaisur Rehman scored the lone goal of the match in added time of the first-half and helped Pakistan clinch the gold medal.
However, it must be mentioned here that India did not field its main squad in the South Asian Games, as the top players were busy playing the Hockey India League.
(With inputs from PTI)
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