Super Sunday awaits India vs Pakistan in hockey Asia Cup

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New Delhi: The sport hardly matters when it's India vs Pakistan, but the rivalry is at its fiercest on the cricket pitch and hockey turf. And it's the latter at the 2017 Asia Cup in Dhaka that is going to serve another fiesta for the fans on Sunday 5:30 pm IST.

Three months ago, in June, the two nations were in London, where Pakistan set the cricket field on fire beating India in the ICC Champions Trophy final but got hammered by the Indians on the hockey pitch, twice, during the Hockey World League Semifinals.

The Manpreet Singh-led side dished out a 7-1 and 6-1 hammering to the archrivals - the first of which was India's best ever against Pakistan.

But Pakistan have tried to fix things since then, bringing in new coach Farhat Khan and some of the experienced legs that were overlooked in search of new talent. It gives them hope to turn things around against India after two heavy defeats.

Since arriving in Dhaka, Pakistan and India, have played two matches each in Pool A and will end the league stage on Sunday playing each other at the Maulana Bhashani National Hockey Stadium.

Both the teams had shooting practice against hosts Bangladesh, beating them 7-0 each. But the superiority of India reflected in comparing the scorelines of two teams against Japan.

India opened their campaign with a facile 5-1 win over the Japanese, who went on to hold Pakistan 2-2 in their next match.

But Pakistan skipper, Muhammad Irfan, insisted things are "different" in the group now.

"What happened in London was different. I am aware we lost two back-to-back matches against India but the present Pakistan team is different with a few of the senior players making a comeback. Our management has changed and I am confident we will put up a good show," the 27-year-old said.

India are on top of Pool A and have already booked a place in the Super-4 stage. A win on Sunday will continue their unbeaten run going into the next round of the tournament. Pakistan, meanwhile, are all but through with a win and a draw in their two matches so far.

Manpreet, who has been leading the side since PR Sreejesh got injured at the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup earlier this year, doesn't want to think about his team's domination over Pakistan in London.

“What happened in London is history for us now. We did well there but to repeat similar results, we want to focus on our game," Manpreet said.

The game will be the biggest test for new India coach, Sjoerd Marijne, who took charge of the team just before the tournament.

India's biggest worry in the two matches in Dhaka got highlighted during the second game against Bangladesh, in which they converted only two of the 10+ penalty corners they earned. But Manpreet said it isn't something to worry about.

"I don't think our PC conversation is bad. Yes, we missed a few chances but you must also acknowledge that Bangladesh defence in PC was good," the India captain said.

But it may all boil down to handling pressure, which will be more from Pakistan who need a win to keep nervousness away, because if they lose to India and Japan win big against Bangladesh, then it may all boil down to goal-difference to decide the second team from Pool A to progress.

"It is a must-win game for us otherwise we know it will come down to the match between Japan and Bangladesh and if Japan beats hosts by a big margin then we are in trouble," Pakistan captain Irfan said.

So while the temperature on the pitch is expected to rise, fans in Dhaka will get to savour the game's fiercest rivalry on the second biggest stage in Asia.