The 4-0 victory against Pakistan was heartening to see for the fans of Indian hockey after suffered the heartbreak of the fourth place finish at the Commonwealth Games.

The side, during the two months of training under a new coach, worked on setting right and altering a few things – including tightening the defence and converting the field goal opportunities.

Coach Harendra Singh would have been pleased that the things they’d trained on, came off against arch-rivals Pakistan. After three tightly contested quarters – wherein India staved off many of Pakistan’s circle entries, conceded one Penalty Corner and scored once – they created an opening and doubled their lead in the final quarter. This put pressure on the Pakistani side and in the dying minutes of the time, their structure crumbled and India slotted in two more goals for an emphatic 4-0 victory.

But could they do this to a higher-ranked, better side? The doubt of the men in blue putting on a similar or a better performance against the Olympic champions Argentina, within a span of day, loomed. But with a 2-1 win over the Olympic champions, Harendra’s men have quelled it.

With this win, they have established themselves as the title contenders of the last edition of the Champions Trophy.

India suffered a blow before the match as Ramandeep Singh was ruled out of the match with a swollen knee. Ramandeep, against Pakistan, was crucial in the forward line – making incisive runs, providing an assist and scoring India’s opening goal.

And for a while against Argentina in the first quarter, it seemed like they missed him as the circle entries they made didn’t threaten the Argentinian defence. Most of them were nipped off early. And, it was Argentina, the second-ranked side in the world, who were more enterprising.

For the attack to settle, India have always needed some time. And, the Argentinians tried to capitalise by taking an early lead and put India on the back foot. But the Indian defence, for the second consecutive day, looked solid.

And, it was not just Harmanpreet Singh, Jarmanpreet Singh and Surender Kumar manning the defence. Once the ball was in the Indian circle, like they did against Pakistan, almost all the players charged into the circle to block the Argentian attack.

The composure and courage they exhibited to stave of three back-to-back penalty corners towards the end of first quarter. Argentina’s PC specialist Gonzallo Peillat had taken an early lead for his team with a PC when the sides met in March in the Sultan Azlan Shah Trophy. He then scored twice to single-handedly beat India.

On Sunday, he threatened to put Argentina ahead again when he took the penalty corner. He collected the injection well and was looking to pummel the ball to the right side of the goalie. But Manpreet Singh rushed in, cut out the angle and took a blow on his leg. The Indian defence and ‘keeper Sreejesh staved off two more PCs and denied the world No 2 side.

Another aspect from the Pakistan game that repeated in the victory against Argentina was the brilliance of young Dilpreet Singh in the attack line. He didn’t score on Sunday. But without his assist, the Indians might not have doubled their lead. With a defender close on his heels, he kept his cool to collect an aerial pass almost from the half-line. Then, took the ball away, made a half-swivel to deceive the defenders and the goalie, and reverse-flicked the ball to Mandeep Singh, who just had to tap the ball in.

The 17-year-old’s dexterity and nimbleness at the attack and his calmness makes him a delight for the spectators and a danger for the opposition. It will be surprising if he isn’t marked more heavily by other opponents in the tournament.

India, now, have a goal difference of five that might turn out to be crucial in the later stage of the tournament in case of a tie of points. For now, they will head into a two-day break, savouring their back-to-back wins and their position at the top of the standings.