Hockey WC 2023: India To Strengthen Their Guards Ahead Match With England; Says Tougher Opponent

Hockey WC: Indian Head Couch Graham Reid to tighten their strength and strategies ahead the match with England. He said that England will be tougher opponent than Spain. India cannot lower their guard in the second group match of Hockey WC on Sunday.

Winning Against England Is Beneficial

Indian vice captain Amit Rohidas and midfielder Hardik Singh scored in India’s dominant 2-0 win against Spain on Friday. A win against England, ranked fifth in the world, on Sunday will help India put one foot in the quarter-finals as they can fancy their chances of beating Wales in their final Pool D match.

Also Read: Hockey World Cup 2023: India began the journey to the Cup with a 2-0 win over Spain

CWG Game-Play: England

“We are up against England next and it will be tougher, they are ranked higher than us. We know how tough England is in the Commonwealth Games,” head couch, Reid said.

Last year, the two sides faced each other three times with their last match played at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, ending 4-4 in the group stage. They played out a 3-3 draw in the first leg of the Pro League match before India won 4-3 in the second, both games played in April.

“So, we will try to continue our good work (from the Spain match). We did really well defensively (against Spain), we have to continue it,” said Reid on England’s CWG record.

Captain Harmanpreet Singh agreed that England would be tough opponents and the home side will have to play their best hockey to beat them. “We are taking it match by match. Spain is done now and our focus is on England and we are planning for that,” he said.

Player Details:

Team India: Harmanpreet Singh (C), Amit Rohidas (VC), Abhishek, Surendra Kumar, Manpreet Singh, Hardik Singh, Jarmanpreet Singh, Mandeep Singh, Lalit Upadhyay, Krishna Pathak, Neelam Sanjeep X, PR Sreejesh, Neelkant Sharma, Shamsher Singh, Varun Kumar, Akashdeep Singh, Vivek Sagar Prasad and Sukhjit Singh.

Team England: David Ames (C), James Alberry, Liam Ansell, Nick Bandurak, Will Callanan, David Condon, David Goodfield, Harry Martin, James Mazzarello, Nick Park, Ollie Payne, Phil Roper, Scott Rushmere, Liam Sanford, Tom Sorsby. Zach Wallace, Jack Waller and Sam Ward.