The second test in the India-Canada series got under way on Sunday
afternoon at the University of Victoria field. The game started at a
faster pace than the first one since the teams were already familiar
with each other.

There were a couple of new faces on both sides, of whom Amir Khan made
an immediate impact. Rajpal Singh made a move down the right flank in
the 4th minute and ran into heavy traffic around the circle, but the
ball somehow reached Amir near the left post in the ensuing melee and
he promptly capitalized.

The Canadians made a strong push and got close in the 11th and 13th
minutes, but Indian GK P R Sreejesh held firm. Ken Pereira made a good
run through the middle and earned a PC for Canada in the 15th minute,
followed by another one in the 17th, but to no avail. Ranjeev Deol
retrieved the ball off a miscue by an Indian defender and took a shy
at the goal in the 18th minute but couldn’t convert either. Finally,
the Canadian pressure paid off in the 20th minute as Wayne Fernandes
put the ball in the net off yet another PC.

India re-took the lead almost immediately in the 21st minute as
Shivendra Singh scored from the field over the objections of the
Canadian players who tried to convince the referee that the ball had
been lifted dangerously prior to the score. But the lead proved short
lived as Canada was awarded a penalty stroke for an infraction called
on Dhananjak Mahadik in the circle and Rob Short made no mistake in
the 23rd minute.

The game went back and forth for a while and both India and Canada had
chances in the 26th and 27th minutes respectively. In the 31st minute,
India earned a PC and Dhananjay Mahadik made amends for his defensive
mistake and put India in the lead once again. But yet again, the lead
proved short-lived as Canada counter-attacked, earned a PC, and Wayne
Fernandes scored his second goal in the 34th minute.

As time wound down on the action-packed 1st half, India had a final PC
chance in the 35th minute but Sandeep Singh could not get off a clean
attempt.

In general, the game was a little more physical than the first test
and the umpires had to step in to control proceedings on a couple of
occasions. The Canadians were looking to make a statement that they
were no pushovers, and the Indians were looking to maintain their
edge.

Once again, Sardar Singh stood out with his cool and steady play in
the defense, and the Indian defense didn’t look quite as confident
when he was out of the game. Rajpal Singh was aggressive on offense
and created penetration down the right side on several occasions, and
Bharat Chikara initiated some good moves down the left flank from his
defender position.

The second half went on similar lines as the first half in terms of
ball movement and multiple offensive moves by both sides, but neither
side was able to score for a long time. It was only 5 min from the end
of the game that India scored the decider and held on for a final
score of 4-3 and a 2-0 lead in the test series.