Another seven-goal defeat
Hosts Bangladesh turned in another sorry performance in the Hero Asia Cup, losing 0-7 against Asian two-time champions India in their second Pool A match at the Maulana Bhasani Hockey Stadium yesterday.
Mahbub Harun's charges put up a slightly better effort compared to their previous match -- which had the same margin of defeat -- against Pakistan two days ago, especially in terms of holding possession and defending in numbers, yet the massive difference in class between the two sides proved too much as the Indians toyed with the hosts and booked their berth in the Super 4s.
Harmanpreet Singh scored twice while Ramandeep Singh, Gurjant Singh, Akashdeep Singh, Amit Rohidas and Lalit Upadhyay scored a goal apiece for the Indians, who had beaten Japan 5-1 in their opening match on Wednesday.
The margin of defeat could have been much bigger had it not been for some excellent keeping from stand-in goalkeeper Abu Nippon, who replaced No.1 choice Ashim Gope after the latter's lacklustre effort in the previous match.
Nippon made a string of saves -- from open play and penalty corners -- as the top-ranked Asian side failed to turn the match into a goalfest after having taken a 3-0 lead in the first quarter.
Bangladesh skipper Rasel Mahmud Jimmy said it was a much better effort from his team as they never gave up despite going three down in the opening quarter.
"You have to keep in mind the vast difference in individual skill and match experience when considering the margin of defeat," Jimmy said at the post-match press conference.
"We started the match poorly but we came back, which was important. The coach's instructions were to try to keep possession and not go down, which we did or else we could have conceded more goals.
"We never came back in the first match since conceding the opening goal. But yesterday we played well after the first quarter," the veteran forward opined.
Indeed Bangladesh looked on course for a much bigger drubbing when they conceded three field goals within the first 13 minutes as the Indians pressed high up the pitch. The marking inside the circle was shabby and converting fast attacks into goals looked to be the order of the day.
However, Bangladesh, unlike the previous match, were intent on holding possession when they had the ball and not needlessly throwing it away with aimless hits towards the up-field. Marking improved too as the game wore on and India could only add two more goals in the second quarter -- their fifth goal coming from a penalty stroke.
The men in blue, who had failed to convert any of the eight penalty corners, finally managed to pull two back at the start of the fourth quarter, eventually wrapping the game up at 7-0.
Bangladesh, on the other hand, hardly had the gas to threaten the Indian goal or earn a penalty corner against 13 won by the Indians.
The sorry statistic to emerge from the first two matches is Bangladesh have conceded a grand total of 14 goals and 22 penalty corners; they are yet to score or even win a penalty corner in this competition so far.
India will take on archrivals Pakistan on Sunday to decide who finishes top of the pool while Bangladesh will square off against an impressive Japan side on the same day to salvage some pride.