New-look India take on old rivals

After a disastrous campaign in the Athens Olympics, a depleted Indian hockey team will have to play out of their skin to be able to put acro...

After a disastrous campaign in the Athens Olympics, a depleted Indian hockey team will have to play out of their skin to be able to put across Pakistan in the opening match of the four-match Test series starting here tomorrow.

A win against their much-fancied rivals seems highly unlikely for the visitors with several rookie players in their ranks who have limited or absolutely no experience of playing at the highest level. The Indian Hockey Federation announced a new-look team keeping an eye on the future, but its move to rebuild the side could get a serious beating at the hands of the Pakistanis, determined to prevail over their arch rivals.

India8217;s coach Gerhard Rach of Germany has promised that his young team would do its best in the series, but the visitors8217; best effort may not be enough to stop the home side from continuing their dominance.

8220;Don8217;t expect much from us because we are in a rebuilding stage where we have given chances to some new players but we will do our best to be serious opponents for Pakistan,8221; Rach said when asked about his team8217;s chances in the series. But it would be not an easy task for the Indians to even pose a serious challenge to the Pakistanis, who have a new captain in Waseem Ahmed after Muhammed Nadeem retired from international hockey following the Athens Olympics.

The absence of five regulars who were part of the team in the Olympics 8212; Dhanraj Pillay, Baljit Singh Dhillon, Gagan Ajit Singh, Deepak Thakur and Prabhjot Singh 8211; is likely to have its effect on India8217;s performance in the series as they will be playing with a new forward-line to be led by inexperienced Arjun Halappa and Adam Sinclair.

Their track record in the Test series between the arch-rivals also does not support the visitors who have lost five of the eight series played so far, having won just two of them with the other ending in draw.

The last time the two sides featured in a bilateral series was in 1999 when they played nine matches 8212; four in India and five in Pakistan. Pakistan won the series 5-3 with the match in Rawalpindi finishing in a 3-3 draw.