The Indian men's hockey team kicked off their South Africa Tour on Monday with a 4-0 win against the hosts of Paris Olympics Games France here in Cape Town.
While India's defence remained resolute with France unable to breach past the experience of PR Sreejesh and Krishan Pathak in the goalpost, India scored a flurry of goals backed by an excellent PC attack.
India's first goal came in the 13th minute through Harmanpreet's exceptional dragflick. He added to his team's scoreline in the 26th minute via PC, improving on his drag flick to score past the French goalie.
Interestingly, India's third goal too came off a brilliant PC variation where the team's experienced forward Lalit Upadhyay converted the goal in the 42nd minute.
In the 49th minute, experienced attacking midfielder and vice captain Hardik Singh took India's lead to a formidable 4-0 through a finely executed field goal, ensuring his team registered a commanding win.
The week-long tournament features France, the Netherlands, India and hosts South Africa.
On 24th January, India will face France in their second match, followed by a match against hosts South Africa on 26th and will take on the Netherlands on 28th January.