Dhaka: After a great start, the Indian hockey team would look to iron out a few flaws when they take on hosts Bangladesh in their second match of the Asia Cup here Friday. After their dominating 5-1 win over Japan in their campaign opener, India will start as overwhelming favourites.
The Indians, playing their maiden tournament under a new coach Sjoerd Marijne less than a month after he took over the reins looked impressive from the word go against Japan. India would look to polish the skills further against Bangladesh before their final preliminary fixture against archrivals Pakistan, Sunday.
The Indian attacking force of SV Sunil, Lalit Upadhyay, Ramandeep Singh and Akashdeep Singh looked threatening in the game against Japan and would like to continue in the same vein against Bangladesh.
Even though it was a commanding performance against Japan, Marijne remained not fully satisfied. “I believe we can focus on improved performance in the next game. Our players should stick to the basics and execute their plans well,” he said Thursday. “We have the potential to improve our performance by a few notches,” he added.
Meanwhile, Bangladesh skipper Rashel Mahmud said his team will have to put up a much better performance against India if they want to give any fight to their fancied opponents. “Compared to India, we are far behind. However, even then we will take the field in a positive frame of mind. Our main aim will be to come back from the game with at least one point,” Mahmud stated.
press trust of india
