Preview: India look to break Argentina's winning streak in FIH Pro League

The Men in Blue will resume their campaign against the South American nation.

The Indian men’s hockey team will be back in action in the FIH Pro League 2021-22. They will welcome Argentina at the Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneswar, Odisha. Graham Reid’s men will be looking to reach the top of the table after their matches with Germany were postponed. The double-header will take place on 19 and 20 March 2022 respectively.  

The Europeans were suffering from several COVID-19 cases in their camp, which led to their inability to participate. Fans of Indian hockey were hungry to see their team in action and can finally see them take the turf against a strong team like Argentina. 

Here is what is in store when both teams clash on the weekend:

Team India

The Men in Blue are sitting in second place on the FIH Pro League table, with 12 points from six matches. The incentive to go on top of the table will certainly play a role. Furthermore, playing at home will also be an advantage that the team will rely on. Losing by 3-5 to Spain was a setback for the bronze winners at the Tokyo Olympics. Getting back to winning ways will be on the minds of the players and fans.

Team Argentina

Argentina will be the underdogs in the upcoming fixtures. The South Americans were part of the Tokyo Olympics as well and reached the knockout stages, until the quarter-final where they lost to Germany. However, their form in the Pro League is noteworthy, as the outfit have won three of their four matches.

They won two matches against England and one against Belgium. The outfit will try to take a leaf from Spain’s book and aim to defeat India. Their opponents conceded nine goals in two matches, which will be an area they would look to exploit.

Key Players

Harmanpreet Singh (India)

The defender will be extremely crucial to India’s cause. He is one of the top defenders in men’s hockey and brings a lot of quality to the table. Singh is the top scorer in the FIH Pro League with 10 goals and will look to add more goals to his tally. He managed three goals in two fixtures against Spain.

India’s penalty-corner conversion rate rests on the ability of Harmanpreet, who is one of the most powerful drag-flickers in the men’s game. Argentina must try to avoid giving away too many penalty-corners to prevent the defender from finding the back of the net. 

Lucas Martinez (Argentina)

Team Argentina rely more on the collective effort of their players rather than an individual. However, one of the key players in the squad is Lucas Martinez. The forward has scored twice in the FIH Pro League and also plays for Dragons, a Belgian club.

Martinez has over 27 goals for the national team in over 93 caps. The Indian defence is vulnerable, judging by their performance in the last few matches and the forward line, led by Martinez will look to capitalize on it. 

Squad

Team India

PR Sreejesh, Krishan Bahadur Pathak, Harmanpreet Singh, Jugraj Singh, Surender Kumar, Varun Kumar, Jarmanpreet Singh, Amit Rohidas, Manpreet Singh, Vivek Sagar Prasad, Hardik Singh, Sumit, Shamsher Singh, Nilakanta Sharma, Moirangthem Rabichandra Singh, Gurjant Singh, Mandeep Singh, Lalit Kumar Upadhyay, Shilanand Lakra, Sukhjeet Singh, Abhishek, Dilpreet Singh, Suraj Karkera, Mandeep Mor, Dipsan Tirkey, Nilam Sanjeep Xess, Sanjay, Jaskaran Singh, Akashdeep Singh, Ashis Kumar Topno, Gursahibjit Singh and Mohd Raheel.

Team Argentina

Tomas Santiago, Nehuen Hernando, Emiliano Bosso, Juan Catan, Facundo Zarate, Santiago Tarazona, Nicolas Keenan, Nahuel Salis, Maico Casella, Joaquin Puglisi, Lucas Vila, Jose Tolini, Nicolas della Torre, Diego Paz, Ignacio Ortiz, Federico Monja, Ignacio Nepote, Ladislao Gencarelli, Tomas Domene, Rey Matias, Lucas Martinez, Nicolas Cicileo, Nicolas Acosta, Agustin Mazzilli, Federico Fernandez, Martin Ferreiro and Agustin Bugallo.

Broadcast

The FIH Men’s Pro League fixtures between India and Argentina will be broadcast live on the Disney+ Hotstar app.

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