Pakistan strike late to hold India in Asia Cup

CHENNAI: With less than 80 seconds on the clock, Pakistan kept their wits about themselves to ensure they didn’t lose their opening Asia Cup tie against in India in Jakarta on Monday.

A much-changed Indian side — as many as 10 players were handed senior caps for the first time — took the lead via S Karthi’s deflected penalty corner in the 9th minute and looked like they had just done enough to hang on to that lead. That was before Abdul Rana poked home from close range after India failed to clear a penalty corner. 

With both sides opting to play youthful sides — India have officially come with their ‘A’ side — the quality on display wasn’t always great. There were lot of mistraps and passes were routinely underhit or overcooked.  

Monday’s results: Malaysia 7-0 Oman, South Korea 6-1 Bangladesh, Japan 9-0 Indonesia, India 1-1 Pakistan.