As Amritsar gets ready to host its first ever India-Pakistan hockey test match on Friday, both teams arrived in the holy city. Instead of a practice session, decided to visit the Golden Temple, with markedly different prayers in their hearts.While the visitors will be looking to retain the series here after an abysmal performance in the previous match at Chandigarh, India will hope its form remains to enable them to at least draw the eight-test series.The Indian management continues to make the same noises on the team’s performance: ‘‘Give them time, they will improve’’, they say, ‘‘constant traveling leaves us little time for practicing’’. There have also been dark mutterings of ‘‘biased umpiring’’.But after the hopes raised in Pakistan, the level of performance has not matched expectations. The Indian forwards have failed to make the most of their chances and the midfield looks shaky without Viren, playing as he did on Wednesday as a defender.Worse still, most of the youngsters who impressed in Pakistan — and who were supposed to increase the bench strength of the team — have been a letdown. Vivek Gupta has failed time and again to trap or pass the ball with control, Tushar Khandekar and Sandeep Michael miss their chances inside the shooting area and in front of the goalmouth. Sandeep Singh has proved to be a good find, but still has a long way to go to develop as a regular fullback.The good news is the form of Viren and Arjun Halappa.And the Indian defence, which has help up surprisingly in the absence of inspirational skipper Dilip Tirkey. Tirkey is out of action after being hit by a Sohail Abbas shot in the first match at New Delhi. His absence has given rookies like Harpal Singh and Girish Pimpale a chance to prove their worth.Pakistan, meanwhile, have a realistic chance to wrap up the series tomorrow, given that their strikers can be dangerous when in form. Sohail Abbas still remains their most potent weapon. With six goals in the series so far, he is the highest scorer on either side. And it seems unlikely that their entire forward line will go on to underperform for the second match in a row.Interestingly, Pakistan have scored just one goal more than India (14-13), even though they lead the series 3-1 with two draws. But India have not won a bilateral series against Pakistan since 1984, and that will definitely be playing in their minds when they take to the field tomorrow.Perhaps India need to drink deep from the pool of nectar located in the heart of this city.
