Pakistan confident ahead of India clash at Commonwealth Games

Hockey team captain Rizwan Sr says team in good physical, mental shape before clash

KARACHI: Arch-rivals Pakistan and India will clash at the 2018 Commonwealth Games on Saturday and the former team’s captain Mohammad Rizwan Sr says they will put on their best show against the Men in Blue.

Pakistan, under the supervision of former India coach Roelant Oltmans, are confident of upstaging the sixth-ranked team.

Earlier in the event on Thursday, Pakistan could only pull off a 1-1 draw against a lowly-ranked Wales side, but captain Rizwan is hopeful of a better showing against India.

“We have been working with Oltmans and he has helped us learn many modern hockey techniques, especially some which will be helpful against India,” Muhammad Rizwan Sr told The Express Tribune.

Rizwan Sr added Oltmans focus on fitness has helped the team who are optimistic of performing better than the Wales match.

“He has worked with us on our fitness too,” he said. “It is one of the most important requirements in modern hockey. They boys have responded well to the training and are improving each day. We were not able to deliver a win in the last match, but we will be giving our best against India.”

Rizwan Sr thinks Oltmans experience of coaching India will also help them in the April 7 clash. “The coach has trained India and knows what their weaknesses so he has helped us develop our skills according to that and we will be going into the match with our full strength.”

Head to head

Pakistan and India have faced each other 52 times and the former have won on 25 occasions, while India ran away with only 16 wins. Eleven of those encounters ended in a draw.

Pakistan have scored 124 goals against India in the 52 matches, while the latter could manage only 104 goals. In the most recent outing, Pakistan lost 3-1 to India in the Asia Cup last year in October.

“Whenever it is India, the energy and motivation level of each and every player is at its peak,” said Rizwan Sr. “We have been told to hold our nerves and don’t let our aggression overcome our emotions.”

He concluded with hope that they might be able to give Pakistan hockey fans a win to cherish. “It will be a tough match but we will have to give our best to give our nation a win against a good team,” he said.