Bhubaneswar: Indian Men’s Hockey Team will look to maintain its winning streak when it takes on England in their next set of matches on February 24 and 25 in the FIH Pro League 2024-25. Craig Fulton’s men have been in stirring form and are currently on a three-match winning run.
The side got their campaign off to a topsy-turvy start, winning and losing a game each against Spain and Germany in their initial round of matches but then regrouped well to put it past Ireland.
The first match against the Irish saw Mandeep Singh, Jarmanpreet Singh and Sukhjeet Singh find the back of the net as the Indians cruised to a 3-1 victory. A day later, Fulton’s side were unstoppable with yet another commanding win. Nilam Xess, Mandeep Singh, Abhishek, and Shamsher Singh scored as Team India kept a clean sheet and cruised to an impressive 4-0 triumph. That result will serve as a massive morale booster, as it took them to fourth place in the FIH Pro League 2024-25 standings.
Having successfully turned around their campaign, Hamanpreet Singh and Co. will be up against a stiff challenge over the next couple of days against Team England, who are placed third in the standings.
England, though, have not had the best results and come into the contest on a losing note. They edged Spain to a shootout win in their first clash and then lost 1-4 in the reverse fixture. Those two losses would have stung the team as it saw them rooted to the third spot with three wins in six matches.
In search of a much-needed win, England will bank on their ace goal-scorer Sam Ward, who has nine goals to his name and is ranked second among the highest goal-scorers in the league.
It’s no surprise that Ward’s heroics have seen England score the second-most goals in the competition so far (20). However, their attack won’t have it easy against a resolute Indian defence.
Team India’s back-line has been the most effective in the FIH Pro League 2024-25 season so far as they have conceded just eight goals, which is the least among the nine teams. That is a testament to the efficiency of the Indian defence, who have been rock-solid and have given away just the one goal in their last three matches.
In what promises to be a proper contest between attack and defence, World No. 5 Team India will hope to ride the momentum and clinch two victories against World No. 3 England.
(IANS)
