India men look to continue winning run

BHUBANESWAR: The Indian men's hockey team will look to maintain its winning streak when they face off against England in the FIH Pro League at Kalinga Stadium here on Monday.
It's the first time that the two teams will be playing against one another since the Paris Olympics where India won in the shootouts to make it to the semifinals. It was quite a match because India had to play the game with just 10 players for nearly three quarters after Amit Rohidas was shown a red card. But India still came out on top at the end of the day thanks to PR Sreejesh's heroics in front of the goal.
As far as the Pro League is concerned, Craig Fulton's men have been in good form - winning three matches on the trot - after they lost two of their first three games against Spain and Germany, respectively. Thanks to their good showing, they are placed fourth in the points table with 12 points from six games.
Meanwhile, England are placed third in the standings. But they are coming into the match following a 1-4 loss to Spain. In the other game against the same opponents, England managed to win only in the shoot-outs after the game finished 2-2.
As a result, England remain rooted to the third spot with just three wins in six matches.
England however will bank on their ace goal-scorer Sam Ward, who has nine goals to his name and is ranked second among the highest goal-scorers in the League. It's no surprise that Ward's heroics have seen England score the second-most goals in the competition so far -- 20.
But one needs to bear in mind that India have also conceded the least number of goals so far.