Mumbai: India vs Australia for long has been an occasion to wait! But in hockey, the teams clash quite often. The Indian team to be crowned winners of the Asian Champions Trophy last month, was defeated 3-2 by the Australians in the opening match of the men’s Four Nations Invitational Tournament in Melbourne on Wednesday.
To avenge the same, India put its soul into the match by beating Malaysia 4-2 and clinched the route to the next round on Thursday.
Australia rallied from an early goal and successfully raced past the clock and bagged its final point. Jeremy Haywood scored twice (24th and 36th minutes) and Trent Mitton found the net in the 43rd minute. For India, Rupinder Pal Singh converted two penalty corners (21’, 53’).
Pangs of hollowness were witnessed by the team as charismatic performers like captain and goalkeeper PR Sreejesh and senior strikers SV Sunil and Ramandeep Singh were missing. India faced hardships in the second half as it kept losing its penalty corners. The Men from Down Under, took full advantage of the situation and put up a strong defence, accompanied by minute miscommunication between Sardar Singh and Birendra Lakra, robbed India the opportunity to score.
However, Rupinder did India proud and put up a scoreline of 1-0. The happiness was short lived as Haywood appeared from the back and leveled the score.
Haywood with his masterstroke at the 36th minute left everyone speechless and the absence of Sreejesh was felt strongly. Australia got its push of encouragement and India had its, as it went defeated Malaysia the very next day with a 4-2 to register its first win in the round robin encounter. Nikkin Thimmaiah scored a brace for India. The other notable players were Rupinder Pal Singh and Akashdeep Singh. Scoring two goals in the final quarter of the match earned them their first points at the tournament.
A dominant start for the Indians set Malaysia panting, the defence of which stood strong, that deprived India of the opportunity to score further. Second quarter too witnessed India’s dominance, breaking through the final third was difficult. The 24th minute saw Sardar infesting on a Malaysian mistake and the score now read, 1-0.
Malaysia hit back with an equaliser in the third quarter with Faizal Saari converting a PC. Rupinder Pal Singh from there made no mistake and once again gave India the lead.
An equaliser from Malaysia got India hunting for victory even more, culminating into a second goal by Nikkin in the 55th minute. The match concluded with Akashdeep Singh scoring the fourth goal for India within minutes. India will now be seen playing against the Kiwis on Saturday.