Indian halfback Lalit Upadhyay confident ahead of two crucial matches against Pakistan and Australia

Lalit Upadhyay celebrates a goal with his teammates

After convincingly beating Poland in their second encounter in the pool A of the Hockey World League, Indian halfback Lalit Upadhyay is not getting carried away and is looking forward to the next two matches against Pakistan and Australia. Both the rival teams are in good form and have beaten India on several occasions in the past.

The 21-year-old halfback said, “While we won the first two matches, the next two against Pakistan and Australia are the ones we are looking forward to.”

He ensured that the current strategies are working well for the team and the main task would be not to give possession of the ball easily back to the opposition. He asked the team to be fully committed to the task of seeing the next two important matches through and do a clean sweep in the pool so that India gets an easier path to the final.

He added “We have been delivering as a unit and ensuring that we do not give up ball possession easily. Our target from here is to take a clean sweep in the pool phase.”

The Uttar-Pradesh based player had full praises for the young Indian forward, Sunil Devinder Walmiki as his goal was the one which secured all 3 points in the match. He remarkably deflected Chinglensana’s slap pass in the goal to give India a comfortable win over Poland.

“His skills in the D are remarkable and the key is his reaction time. He knows how and where to hit and he does it so swiftly which leaves many thinking post that”

Lalit asked the team to keep the momentum going in the upcoming matches. India will meet arch-rivals Pakistan in their third encounter of the pool games on 26th June.

The match will be telecasted at 19:30 IST on Star Sports.