Pakistan v India: Greenshirts go into the semis with a new game plan

They will be looking to avenge Asiad final defeat against India .

KARACHI: The Pakistan hockey team will use the controversially-titled 9-11 strategy against arch-rivals India in today’s Champions Trophy semi-final clash in Bhubaneswar, India, according to head coach Shahnaz Sheikh.

“We will use our 9-11 format tomorrow and hopefully it will help us a lot more while facing India, who have home advantage,” said Sheikh yesterday while talking to The Express Tribune. “9-11 means we will attack with nine players while two will stay at the back and defend.”

Once the masters of the sport, Pakistan have not advanced to the final of a major world competition since 1998, when Pakistan lost the Champions Trophy final to the Dutch in Lahore.

“I am so happy that both teams are in the semis,” he said. “For the fans it’s a dream match and for me, it’s a good sign that Asian teams have started to do well again.”

Team captain Muhammad Imran has backed the chosen plan saying, “I’m sure the plan suggested by the Sheikh will help us overcome the mistakes we made during the Asian Games final against India.”

Meanwhile, Olympian Samiullah Khan said that the boys played against a European side after a long gap but despite this, they had demonstrated great skills. “They will have to keep the momentum going and give the same performance against India, which will be do-or-die situation.”

Earlier, the top four teams in the league – England, Netherlands, Argentina and Belgium – were all knocked out in Thursday’s quarter-finals, while the bottom four — Pakistan, India, Germany and Australia – cruised into the semis.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 13^th,  2014.

Like Sports on Facebook, follow @ETribuneSports on Twitter to stay informed and join in the conversation.