Unimpressive in their three group matches, India would look to make amends and turn the tables on arch-rivals Pakistan when the two sides face each other in the summit clash of men's hockey in the 12th South Asian Games here on Friday.
India, fielding a second string team in the Games with a lot of junior players in it, have been struggling to find their form as a unit. They had beaten minnows Bangladesh and Sri lanka but lost to Pakistan 1-2 in the group match.
With most of senior players featuring in the lucrative Hockey India league, India have very few experienced players with the exception of captain Mandeep Antil and Gurbaj Singh.
India have to make a vast improvement to their gameon Friday if they want to stop Pakistan from winning their third title on the trot in the Games.
Pakistan had beaten India in both the 2004 and 2010 finals, respectively. India won the gold in 1995.
India began with a 4-1 win over lowly Bangladesh before taking on Pakistan. In the match against Pakistan, India's defensive weakness was evident. The young Indian defenders gave a lot of space to the Pakistani attackers, while the home side could string together very few goal-scoring moves and eventually lost the match.