London, June 17 (CRICKETNMORE): On Sunday while all eyes will be on the ICC Champions Trophy final between India and Pakistan at The Oval, a few kilometers away at the Lee Valley Hockey and Tennis Centre, the arch-rivals will be seen battling it out in a Group stage ongoing Hockey World League (HWL) Semi Final.

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Cricket captain Virat Kohli, who is leading the men-in-blue for the first time in a major International Cricket Council (ICC) tournament, wished his hockey counterparts the best ahead of the marquee clash.

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Addressing the pre-match press conference, Kohli said he had never tried his hand at hockey but is confident that the Indian team will come out with flying colours.

"I wish our hockey team all the best. I have never tried my hand in it but they are pretty good, so they will be fine," Kohli said.

Applauding the hockey stars for their guts, the 28-year-old cricketer also revealed his fear of getting hit on the face in a hockey match.

"I played with synthetic hockey balls in indoors but never tried (field) hockey. I feel its very scary. Getting hit on the face, I don't know how those guys do it from the penalty corner.

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"It needs a lot of guts to do that," he said.

The Indian cricket team will head into Sunday's final against Pakistan as the defending champions, having won the title in 2013.

 

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About the Author

Saurabh Sharma
An ardent cricket fan, Saurabh is covering cricket for last 12 years. He has started his professional journey with the Hindi publication, Navbharat Times (Times of India Group). Later on, he moved to TV (Sadhna News). In 2014, he joined Cricketnmore. Currently, he is serving as the editor of cricketnmore.com. His grasp on cricket statistics and ability to find an interesting angle in a news story make him a perfect fit for the online publishing business. He is also acting as a show producer for our ongoing video series - Cricket Tales, Cricket Flashback, & Cricket Trivia Read More
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