In the only FIH Hockey Pro League double-header scheduled to take place in Match Week 7, reigning men’s champions Australia take on hosts India at Bhubaneswar's Kalinga Stadium on Friday 21 and Saturday 22 February.
More information about the fixtures can be found below, with the complete match schedule available by clicking here.
India v Australia (Men)
Where: Kalinga Stadium, Bhubaneswar (IND)
When: 21 & 22 Feb 2020, both 1900 local time (GMT/UTC +5.30)
Match pages: Match 1 | Match 2
Summary: Meetings between India and Australia are seldom short of entertainment, something which is unlikely to change when these two giants of the game go head-to-head at the Kalinga Stadium. India have made an excellent start to their debut FIH Hockey Pro League season, currently sitting third with eight points. The team claimed five points from a possible six against the Netherlands before claiming another three in a stunning 2-1 victory over Belgium, the reigning World and European champions. The Red Lions bounced back with a 3-2 win in the second match, but few would dispute that India – coached by former Australian international Graham Reid and captained by newly crowned FIH Men’s Player of the Year Manpreet Singh – are playing some of their best and most consistent hockey in years.
Australia have an outstanding recent record against India, having won 22 of their last 30 meetings and not tasted defeat since a 2016 test match in Bendigo (AUS), when Raghunath Vokkaliga scored twice in a 3-2 win for the Indians. Australia - coached by Colin Batch, who was recently named 2019 Men's FIH Coach of the Year - also have an imperious record at the Kalinga Stadium, a venue where they have not suffered a defeat in regular time since a semi-final loss at the hands of Germany at the Hero Champions Trophy in 2014. The Australians were unbeaten in all six matches on the way to claiming the title at the 2017 Hockey World League Final, and won five out of six matches at the Odisha Hockey Men’s World Cup 2018, with only the Netherlands getting the better of them in a semi-final shoot-out after regular time finished 2-2. As well as being extremely comfortable in their surroundings, their recent performances against Great Britain – where they claimed five points from six, recovering from a difficult opening weekend against Belgium in which they earned just one point from their two matches – ensures that the Kookaburras will be in confident mood coming into these fixtures.
The essentials…
Current FIH World Rankings
India: 4 | Australia: 2
Final standings - FIH Hockey Pro League 2019
India: N/A (debut season) | Australia: 1
Head-to-heads in all competitions (since 2013 – 30 matches)
Wins: India: 6 | Australia: 22 | Draws: 2
Goals scored: India: 47 | Australia: 93
Current FIH Hockey Pro League position
India: 3 | Australia: 5
FIH Hockey Pro League 2020 – Results to date
India
India 5, Netherlands 2
India 3, Netherlands 3 – 3-1 after shoot-out
India 2, Belgium 1
India 2, Belgium 3
Australia
Australia 2, Belgium 2 – 2-4 after shoot-out
Australia 2, Belgium 4
Australia 4, Great Britain 4 – Australia win 3-1 after shoot-out
Australia 5, Great Britain 1
Top Scorers
India: Mandeep Singh & Rupinder Singh – 3 goals each
Australia: Tom Craig, Jeremy Hayward, Trent Mitton & Lachlan Sharp – 2 goals each
Team pages (squads and statistics)
India: click here.
Australia: click here.
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