Nilakanta Sharma Bids Farewell as India Crush Bangladesh 13-0

An emotional evening in Jalandhar saw India begin their Asian Champions Trophy defence in style, with a 13-0 victory over Bangladesh in the Hero Asian Champions Trophy Punjab 2026. The result was overshadowed in part by Nilakanta Sharma's announcement that he was retiring from international hockey.

The match took place at the Olympian Surjit Singh Hockey Stadium on Tuesday. Mandeep Singh scored a hat-trick, netting in the 3rd, 10th and 54th minutes. Harmanpreet Singh scored twice, in the 2nd and 44th minutes. Dilpreet Singh and Hardik Singh also scored a brace each. Shilanand Lakra, Abhishek, Nilakanta and Jugraj Singh completed the tally.

India were ahead within the first two minutes. Harmanpreet scored from a penalty corner with a drag-flick in the second minute. Soon after, Mandeep doubled the lead with a reverse hit following a pass from Harmanpreet near the circle. Bangladesh threatened in the fourth minute, but Lakra cleared.

The hosts kept the pressure on throughout the second quarter. Mandeep scored again in the 10th minute after Abhishek and Harmanpreet combined to create the opening. Lakra scored in the 15th minute after a move involving Sukhjit Singh and Aditya Arjun Lalage. Abhishek made it 5-0 in the 18th minute. Nilakanta then struck with a reverse-stick shot from the top of the circle in the 26th minute. Bangladesh goalkeeper Ashraful Shad made a notable save from Nilakanta earlier in the quarter, but India still reached half-time with a 6-0 lead.

In the third quarter, Bangladesh held the ball for periods, yet India remained a constant threat. Dilpreet converted a penalty corner in the 43rd minute and scored from open play a minute later. Harmanpreet then converted a penalty corner in the 44th minute to make it 9-0.

Jugraj scored from a penalty corner in the opening minute of the final quarter. Mandeep completed his hat-trick in the 54th minute, finishing a cross from Aditya. Hardik Singh scored in the 60th minute after Bangladesh had halted a penalty corner, then added a second goal moments later. That goal came from a move that started with Harmanpreet, who found Dilpreet, who in turn set up Hardik to finish.

As the final whistle approached, the crowd waved the tricolour in celebration of the record-style scoreline. Nilakanta's farewell moment capped the night, as this tournament becomes his last in the Indian jersey.

In other results on day one, Malaysia beat China 5-4 and Japan won 3-2 against South Korea. India top the table with three points and a goal difference of +13.

The six-team event follows a single round-robin format, with each side facing the other five once. The top four teams after the league stage will qualify for the semifinals. India play China on October 29, while October 28 is a rest day. League matches will be held in Jalandhar until November 2. The tournament then moves to Mohali's Olympian Balbir Singh Senior International Hockey Stadium, with semifinals on November 4 and bronze and gold medal matches on November 5.