India’s next door neighbours Pakistan had a rough start at the Champions Trophy after dark horse Belgium cornered them with 2-1 score-line but skipper Muhammad Imran is all praise of his team and says they are enjoying their stay in India.

“Champions trophy is a big tournament. We have a lot of youngsters who played well in the match. Playing in India has been a great experience so far and the atmosphere, pitch and the hospitality is very nice,” Imran told www.stick2hockey.com after the match.

Restoring full faith in his team the skipper said that the score line should not be seen as the final reflection of the match as his players performed better than what the score board read.

“Three players in our team are making their senior debut from this tournament. So, it was naturally not easy for them. Plus, Belgium is a tough team. But we gelled well as a team and I am happy with the performance,” he said.

“We will look at the video of the match once again and cover our mistakes for the upcoming matches. I am sure we will make a good comeback.”

But, is the skipper looking ahead at a India versus Pakistan match in a later stage of the tournament? “For the crowd, it might be a special match. But, as players, we would look at it as just as another match and try to win it,” he said.