The most important moment of the match came with just 16 seconds left on the clock in the first quarter. A lobbed pass came in from the deep towards Abhishek, stationed inside the opposition shooting circle. There was a faint move to try and trap the ball, but the Indian striker abandoned the attempt. There was a more serious matter to address.
Abhishek had opened the scoring for India in the third minute before Bangladesh grew tighter in defence and kept the Indian attacks away from goal. Jugraj Singh doubled the score for the tournament favourites in the 22nd minute after converting a penalty stroke for his sixth goal of the competition. India striker Sukhjeet Singh got on the scoresheet, putting the finishing touches at the end of an irresistible passing move to open up the defence and tap home into an empty net. Shilanand Lakra also scored in the 44th minute by slotting home into an empty net after a wavy run down the right flank. A minute later, Lakra scored his second with a snapshot reverse hit that left the Bangladesh goalkeeper rooted to the spot.
Eventually, the highest ranked team in the tournament brushed aside the Bangladeshi challenge with a 10-0 win in Kakamigahara. This looked to be a serious blow to the team as they took on Bangladesh in their final Pool A match of the men’s hockey tournament at the Asian Games. The result of the match did not quite matter, India were already through to the semi-finals as table toppers. What they wanted though was to go into the knockouts with their players in good form and health. Abhishek, who has scored eight times for the Indian team at the 20th Asian Games and was among the brighter sparks in an otherwise forgettable World Cup performance last month, did make a brief appearance in the second half. He was, however, soon taken off pitch and given a rest.
In his haste to get into position, Abhishek appeared to twist his ankle and sank to the surface of the Gifu Prefectural Green Stadium on Monday.
