‘It’s time to score now’: India head coach Craig Fulton

India players celebrate after scoring against Pakistan at the Mayor Radhakrishnan Hockey Stadium, Chennai, on Wednesday. Pic/PTI

Team India could not have picked a tougher semi-final opponent than Japan, the only team they have been unable to beat in the Asian Champions Trophy here so far. Their league-round meeting had ended 1-1.

However, the fact that the hosts earned a whopping 15 penalty corners in that draw, is a good enough pointer that the Indians are the far better side if one does not go by rankings alone (India are World No. 4 while Japan are 19).

Good in most departments

Team India have been good in most departments, be it defence, midfield or attack. It's just that their forwards haven't been able to get enough field goals, and this is an aspect coach Craig Fulton wants his team to better. "That match was a draw, but we had some good consistency and possession against Japan. We also had a lot more circle penetration. I think statistics suggested we had around 29 circle entries, which is huge. For us, the tournament starts now, so it's time to score," Fulton said.

Craig Fulton

India goalkeeper PR Sreejesh, however, stressed that goal conversions are only a matter of time. "Every player in the team has a specific job to do. The forwards, if they are not scoring, then they need to create penalty corners so that our drag flickers can step in and score. As long as that's happening, we should do well," he said.

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Japan were brilliant in their mid-field play and low tackling in that 1-1 draw. They were also deadly accurate in their penalty corner defence with their first rusher time and again denying the Indian drag flickers.

Harmanpreet on a high

Skipper Harmanpreet Singh, however, is on a high since. He scored a fine brace against arch-rivals Pakistan on Wednesday and leads the tournament's goal tally with seven successful drag flicks to his name.

"I know my role well [as drag flicker] and realise the responsibility that goes with it. It's my job to convert that penalty corner each time and I'm happy that it's coming off now," said Harmanpreet, refusing to take any credit for being the tournament's leading scorer, claiming it's a team game after all. The Japanese, meanwhile, will not particularly be high on confidence having scraped through to the semi-finals by way of better goal difference than Pakistan.

They've had just one win against bottom-placed China followed by two draws and a defeat. Interestingly, however, it was Japan, who beat India (5-3) at this very penultimate stage of the same tournament in 2021 at Dhaka.

In the day's first semi-final, Malaysia will take on Korea.