‘Pakistan have an edge over India’

KARACHI: Former olympian Qamar Ibrahim believes the Green-shirts will have an edge over arch-rivals India when the two clash in the Azlan Shah Cup on Tuesday (today) in Ipoh, Malaysia.

“The match will be crucial for Pakistan because if we lose we are certainly out of the title race,” Qamar told PPI.

Pakistan started their campaign with a 3-1 victory against Canada, but succumbed to defeats against New Zealand 5-3 and Australia 4-0.

“Australia have a better team and the result was not unlikely, but our boys should have scored one or two goals,” he said.

He said Pakistan should have defeated New Zealand. “We are playing in the tournament with our full-strength team, so I think we should have defeated New Zealand,” he added.

He said that the defensive strategy Pakistan followed was not effective in contemporary hockey. “Our players played too defensively against New Zealand and Australia. It is next to impossible to secure one’s goal posts for 60 minutes in modern hockey,” the former Olympian said.

India have defeated Japan 2-1, but lost to Australia 5-1. They also emerged victorious against Canada by 3-1.

“We will have an edge against India since we have been victorious against them in the last few outings,” he said.  Pakistan beat India twice in the Asian Games in February.

“I have seen India playing in the tournament and I think our players can beat them. We should go into the match with a positive mind-frame and go all out to win the match,” he said.

“We have a psychological advantage and since India are also not at their best, Pakistan have a great chance to beat them and stay in the title race,” he added.

Qamar said that if Pakistan beat India and also pulled off victories against Japan and hosts Malaysia then they could make it to the final. “At the moment, New Zealand have a bright chance to secure a place against Australia in the final, but they have to play matches and upsets always remain on the cards. So we should remain hopeful,” he added.