India survive a late scare by Pakistan to seal a thrilling 4-3 win in the Pro League

Indian men’s ice hockey team The Indian men’s hockey team continued their dominance over Pakistan, beating their opponents 4-3 in an FIH Pro League match at the Lee Valley Hockey and Tennis Center in London on Tuesday.Coming into the match on the back of two brilliant wins against the Netherlands and Germany, India were certainly the better side and deservedly won.However, they were in for a big shock when Pakistan scored the opening goal in front of a sparse crowd. It came from a penalty corner in the eighth minute when Ahmad Nadeem found the net with a conversion that caught the Indian defense completely off guard.India responded strongly, scoring four goals through Abhishek (22′), Nilakanta Sharma (24′), Sukhjeet Singh (40′) and Rajinder Singh (52′), seemingly putting the game beyond Pakistan’s reach.However, Pakistan was not ready to give up. They picked up the pace, pushed India and went down in the 53rd minute when captain Abu Mahmood curled a penalty corner through the legs of goalkeeper Suraj Karkera. Karkera, who otherwise had a good game, would have been disappointed not to keep the effort.The action continued to spill from one end of the pitch to the other and India also had scoring opportunities winning a penalty corner. They failed to convert, but Pakistan went ahead in the final minute when Moin Shakeel headed home from the rebound after the visitors won their eighth penalty corner of the game.The win helped India extend their unbeaten streak against Pakistan that dates back to 2016 when the Men in Blue lost the South Asian Games final in Guwahati. The two teams will meet again on Friday and India will be looking to maintain that record.Before that, India take on England in what should prove to be a tougher test. Meanwhile, Pakistan take on the hosts on Wednesday, though their fate is already sealed. With 13 consecutive defeats and no points, they are set to be relegated from the Pro League. India, on the other hand, have 13 points from as many matches.Despite the win, there were some areas of concern for coach Craig Fulton, notably the inability to convert any of India’s 11 penalty corners and the tendency to concede easy PCs late in the game – which also happened against Germany.But what will please Fulton is how clinical his players have been inside the circle. The goals they scored were magnificent, with Abhishek and Sukhjeet’s strikes in particular deserving of any highlight.Now we can only wait to see if India can repeat this goal-scoring performance against England as well.