Hockey World Cup IND vs NZ Crossover: Harmanpreet and co eye Last 8 spot

FIH Men's Hockey World Cup 2023 India vs New Zealand Preview: The Indian hockey team will play in the crossover against New Zealand to try and get into the quarterfinal

The Hockey World Cup 2023 is now entering its knockout stages and cross-overs are going to begin them. Eight teams will compete in the cross-overs to book the four spots remaining in the quarter-final. The Indian team would be taking part in one of the crossovers and it would be match number 26. Two matches take place tonight and both will happen at the Kalinga International Stadium in Bhubaneshwar. In the first one, Malaysia will play Spain. 

Indian team needs to get off the Wales disappointment

The Indian team hasn’t been at its attacking best although the defence also got a bit shaky in the last group game against Wales. However, it is the attack that has been problematic. Hardik Singh in the midfield has been ruled out and Manpreet is not at his best to provide the balls to attackers like Akashdeep Singh and Mandeep SIngh. 

What has been more disappointing is the way youngsters like Abhishek, Jarmanpreet and Samsher have performed. They were to play fearless hockey and score but have rather got comfortable and it seems like they are playing with something heavy on their mind. They are just not able to get into the right positions to score. 

More importantly, the Indian team needs to get over the disappointment of the Wales game where they needed to get at least 7 goals but managed to concede two and score only four. 

Harmanpreet Singh important for India

Harmanpreet Singh, India’s ace drag-flicker has not been able to score the goals that he used to. He was named India captain and looked in great touch before the World Cup. Since then, he has not been able to get going. He has converted only two penalty corners in three games. One of the two came against a post without a goalkeeper. 

Against New Zealand, the Indian captain needs to find his mojo and score to get the Indian side into the quarterfinal. 

Head-to-Head India vs New Zealand Hockey 

Matches- 104

India Win- 58

New Zealand Win- 29

Draw- 17

Last Meeting- India beat New Zealand 7-2 in FIH Pro League 2022-23

IND vs NZ Crossover Match Details

India vs New Zealand

Match- Crossover, 26

Time- 07:00 pm IST

Date- January 22nd, 2023

Venue: Kalinga International Stadium, Bhubaneshwar

Tournament- FIH Men’s Hockey World Cup 2023

Broadcast and Live Streaming- Star Sports and Disney Plus Hotstar

India FIH World Cup Squad

Abhishek, Surender Kumar, Manpreet Singh, Hardik Singh, Jarmanpreet Singh, Mandeep Singh, Harmanpreet Singh (captain), Lalit Upadhyay, Krishan Pathak, Nilam Sanjeep Xess, PR Sreejesh, Nilakanta Sharma, Shamsher Singh, Varun Kumar, Akashdeep Singh, Amit Rohidas (vice-captain), Vivek Sagar Prasad and Sukhjeet Singh

New Zealand FIH World Cup Squad

Nic Woods (captain), Dom Dixon, Dane Lett, Simon Child, Nick Ross, Sam Hiha, Kim Kingston, Jake Smith, Sam Lane, Simon Yorston, Aidan Sarikaya, Joe Morrison, Leon Hayward, Kane Russell, Blair Tarrant, Sean Findlay, Hayden Phillips, Charlie Morrison