HWC 2023 Preview: India to play New Zealand for place in quarter-finals

The Black Sticks played against the Men in Blue twice in FIH Men's Pro League 2022-23 season games.

India is set to take on New Zealand in the crossover match at the FIH men’s hockey World Cup 2023 in Odisha, India. The hosts had a tough ask in the final pool game where they had to beat Wales by an eight-goal margin to qualify for the quarterfinals. India remains unbeaten going into the knockouts phase whereas New Zealand has lost two matches against Netherlands and Malaysia. India is the clear favourite going into the match and a win here will see them play Olympic gold medallist Belgium in the quarterfinals.

The Stakes

India

India will be eyeing a spot in the quarterfinals and will be up against lower-ranked New Zealand. The hosts ended the pool stages on a positive note not losing a single encounter and the defensive section maintained two clean sheets. The attacking duo of Mandeep Singh and Akashdeep Singh have found their mojo and will be the key going into the knockout stages.

Harmanpreet Singh has converted only one penalty corner out of the 13 attempted. But the Indian captain has maintained consistency in defence controlling the troops. The drag-flicker was the highest goal scorer in the 2022 season and shall get back to form in his debut World Cup as captain. The attackers need to convert the half chances inside the circle which has been a cause of concern in the pool stages.

New Zealand

New Zealand has won only one match against the debutants Chile in the pool stages losing the other two matches to Malaysia and Netherlands. Sam brothers, Hiha and Lane have been the top performers scoring two goals each.

The Oceania nation will have added pressure and will have to deal with massive crowd support. Apart from the external force, New Zealand’s defence has conceded eight goals and with India’s attack gaining momentum, New Zealand needs to tighten up the defence.

India vs New Zealand Head to Head

The two teams have met each other 44 times.

India - 24

New Zealand - 15

Draw - 5

Head-to-head World Cup

Played: 6

India: 3

New Zealand: 2

Draw: 1

India and New Zealand last met each other at the men’s Pro League where India won both matches in Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneshwar. The crossover match at the World Cup is also scheduled to be held at the same venue.

Team News

Hardik Singh’s injury is out of the tournament after pulling his hamstring. Rajkumar Pal is announced as the replacement.

Squad

India

P.R. Sreejesh, Krishna Pathak, Jarmanpreet Singh, Surender Kumar, Harmanpreet Singh (Captain), Varun Kumar, Amit Rohidas (Vice Captain), Nilam Sanjeep Xess, Manpreet Singh,  Rajkumar Pal, Nilakanta Sharma, Shamsher Singh, Vivek Sagar Prasad, Akashdeep Singh, Mandeep Singh, Lalit Kumar Upadhyay, Abhishek, Sukhjeet Singh.

New Zealand

Dom Dixon, Dane Lett, Simon Child, Nick Ross, Sam Hiha, Kim Kingston, Jake Smith, Sam Lane, Simon Yorston, Aidan Sarikaya, Nic Woods (Captain), Joe Morisson, Leon Hayward, Sean Findlay, Kane Russell, Blair Tarrant, Hayden Phillips, Charlie Morrison.

Telecast

The match between England and India will take place at the Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneswar on Sunday(22 January 2023). The live broadcast will begin at 7:00 PM IST on Star Sports 2, Star Sports First, and Star Sports Select 2 HD.

Fans can also watch the live stream on Disney+ Hotstar app, watch.hockey app or website.