After a high-intense battle between India and Pakistan, the Match of the Tournament finished at a 2-2 draw in the Pool A league match of the FINTRO Hockey World League Semi-Final 2015 on 26th June. Both the teams arrived on the green astro-turf with a passion and zeal to win the match as well as collect the points to solidify their positions in the Pool. After this draw, India will be gearing up to their clash against Australia on Sunday and will be looking at ending the Pool phase without a loss in their name.

In the first quarter of the match, both the teams clashed with a great pace and were attacking each other’s business side of the field with a clear intent to get the initial goal. The Indians stuck to their strategy of short passes and maintained to keep the ball possession without giving much options for Pakistan players to counter attack. Pakistan player with their man-to-man marking strategy, tried to take the ball from India’s miss-passes. However, India attacked most of the time and kept their opponent’s under pressure. India got their first success in the 13th minute when defender Gurmail Singh attacked from the left flank and smashed the ball hard into the circle. Young Devindar Sunil Walmiki dived on his front but failed to collect the ball. However, it was forward Ramandeep Singh again, who was standing behind Devindar inside the D and he successfully deflected the fast-paced shot sending the ball into the goal-box without giving Pakistan goalkeeper Imran Butt time to react. With this brilliant team-work, India scored their first goal and took the early lead of 1-0 in the first quarter.

In the second quarter, Pakistan stepped on the ground with more aggression and played with more physical contacts. Indian players on the other hand, continued with their attacking game and kept on trying to create more opportunities to score goals. The Indians successfully were holding the midfield zone with their skillful hockey and didn’t give enough space to Pakistan. Indians rotated their positions occasionally and made their opponents busy. In the 23rd minute, Pakistan charged in the Indian D and managed to earn two back-to-back penalty corners. The Indian defence foiled both their attempts but made a foul of clearing the ball with back stick in the second penalty corner, which gave Pakistan a penalty shoot. Pakistan captain Muhammad Imran took the shot and scored a goal against Indian custodian PR Sreejesh. After the equaliser, both the teams played a more aggressive game and attacked each other’s half. The score remained 1-1 at the end of the second quarter.

After a highly-intense clash from both the rivals, Pakistan again managed to earn a penalty corner in the 37th minute. Shafqat Rasool inserted the ball and Pakistan skipper Imran shot the ball in the goal-box in a fraction of a second. With this 2-1 lead, Pakistan’s confidence got a big boost and they continued their over-aggressive game. However, their joy was short-lived as after two minutes (39th), Indians charged under the leadership of captain Sardar Singh from the midfield zone. Sardar passed the ball to Devindar while running and Devindar quickly hit the ball toward the right of the goal-box. Ramandeep, who waiting for the pass dived on his front and chipped the ball over the Pakistan goalie Imran Butt for their second goal as well as his second individual goal of the game. The Indian camp erupted with joy with this moral boosting equaliser and they fought with more zeal to win the match. After a high-octane neck-to-neck fight, the score-line stood 2-2 by the end of the third quarter.

The fourth quarter being the deciding quarter as both the teams were locked at 2-2. It was India who maintained a complete attack in the entire session, looking for the all important goal. Immediately into the quarter, Pakistan got a penalty corner to their name but the team missed on the opportunity. India went on the attack immediately and a clean chance for Akashdeep was saved by the Pakistan goalie. Halfway into the quarter, Dharamvir passed the ball to Yuvraj who was right in front of the goalpost but unfortunately for India, the latter missed on the vital touch and Pakistan survived the jitters. Just two minutes left for the match, Ramandeep entered the D and hit the ball towards the goal post but the ball missed the target. With no goals getting added to the last quarter the match ended in a 2-2 draw.

India will face Australia in their fourth league match of the FINTRO Hockey World League Semi-Final 2015 at 19:30 IST on the 28th June 2015.