All the excitement came down to the last seven seconds as the Indian hockey team's perennial problem of conceding late goals left them with a disappointing 2-2 draw against a sloppy Pakistan in its Commonwealth Games opener in Gold Coast on Saturday.
For India, Dilpreet Singh (13th minute), Harmanpreet Singh (19th minute) did the scoring, while Pakistan's goals came from Mohammed Irfan Junior (38th minute) and Mubashar Ali (59th minute).
It was touted as the blockbuster clash of the preliminary stage and the turnout, at least, lived up to the hype. The diaspora of both the countries was out in good numbers but adding to the fervour were the Australian fans, who showed up to just soak in the excitement of an Indo-Pak clash.
Not to forget the beat of the dhol, that usually amplifies the sloganeering, was also there adding to the fervour. On the field, India dominated quite clearly despite being a bit sloppy themselves. Forward Dilpreet opened the scoring in the first quarter, helping the last edition silver-medallists end the first 15 minutes with a 1-0 lead.
In the second quarter, Harmanpreet Singh converted the second of the two penalty corner chances he got to put India in control. Pakistan managed to earn a couple of penalty corners of their own but veteran P Sreejesh guarded his citadel with the kind of elan that has been his forte.
The Indians were clearly the superior outfit as far as controlling the ball was concerned, hoodwinking their rivals quite comfortably. India earned a penalty corner quite early in the third quarter but Pakistan goalkeeper Imran Butt easily deflected Rupinder Pal Singh's feeble attempt.
The competitive edge missing from their game, the Pakistani team was also subdued in its on-field demeanour until forward Mohammed Irfan Junior put them on the scoring board with a field goal in the third quarter, narrowing the gap between the two sides. The goal was initially in the name of Muhammad Arslan Qadir but Irfan Junior's faint touch was discovered during replays, prompting a revised credit.
Pakistan turned on the intensity in the final 15 minutes and were rewarded with three back-to-back penalty corners. But they just could not slot the all-important equaliser, denied by a solid Sreejesh and their own poor shots at the goal.
Mandeep Singh had the chance to increase India's lead in the dying minutes of the match but his shot was deflected. With seven seconds left on the clock, Pakistan earned a penalty corner, causing some anxiety in the Indian camp, and the old fears turned out to be true. The Indians ended up conceding one to let slip what should have been a comfortable win.
