Former captain Viren Rasquinha says in-form India men’s team need to be on top of their game against Great Britain in their quarter-final today considering Harmanpreet Singh-led side lost both their Pro League encounters to them in June
India skipper Harmanpreet Singh (right) and his teammates celebrate the win over Australia on Friday. Pic/Getty Images
Former India captain Viren Rasquinha lauded the Indian team for playing to their potential against Australia, but also warned them of the stiff challenge in the knockout stage.
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Rasquinha believes that the Harmanpreet Singh-led side will face a tough battle against Great Britain in their quarter-final clash on Sunday.
India finished second in Pool B with 10 points in five matches. In their last match against Australia, the Indian team scripted history with a 3-2 win, their first victory over the Kookaburras since the 1972 Olympics. Rasquinha lauded the Indian team for playing to their potential against Australia but also warned them of the stiff challenge in the knockout stage.
Fairly good draw
“I think we have very good chances against Great Britain. It’s a fairly good draw for us. We played very well to finish second in Pool B and the last two matches against Belgium and Australia. If you dispassionately keep the results aside, they played very good hockey. Obviously, the result against Australia is fantastic because I’ve been there several times and I know how difficult is it to win against Australia in a major event where they come so prepared,” Rasquinha told IANS on Saturday.
Viren Rasquinha
Craig Fulton’s India had lost both their Pro League encounters against Great Britain in June before the Olympics. The veteran player cautioned India of their opponent’s potential and advised them to play their top game. “It’s been a good performance, but we also have to know that we’ve to forget this result. The knockout phase is a new game altogether and we got to be really on top of our game. Holland [Netherlands], Germany, Great Britain, and Spain, the four teams that come from the other pool, are equally strong. Anyone is capable of beating anyone in the world hockey. In the Pro League, they [India] have not had the best of results against Great Britain so it’s going to be tough,” added the Olympics expert on JioCinema and Sports18.
The 43-year-old former midfielder said that India will have to replicate their aggressive hockey against Great Britain to secure the semi-final spot.
Aggressive play
“The good thing in the match against Australia is that we played to our strength. This is the kind of hockey that India excel at when playing at a high tempo, playing as direct as possible, being very aggressive on the counter-attacks and when you lose ball possession, every single player has to fight hard to come back into the defense to make it difficult for the opposition. I think the work rate of the entire team was phenomenal against Australia. We’ll need to do this again as Great Britain also play at a very very high tempo. This is something we need to make sure,” Rasquinha concluded.
Great Britain has qualified as the third-placed team in Pool A, finishing behind Germany and the Netherlands.
Another reason for Rasquinha listing this match as tough for India is the superior details enjoyed by the opponents against India. In 23 matches played so far, Great Britain hold a 13-9 advantage. They are ahead in the last five matches too, having won three and lost two.
Did you know?
Like in Tokyo Olympics, the quarter-final line-up of men’s hockey at Paris is co-incidentally the same—India v Great Britain, Belgium v Spain, The Netherlands v Australia and Germany v Argentina
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