Monday, January 13, 2014

India has the wherewithal to show the quarterfinal exit door to Australia



Even the most ardent hockey fans wouldn’t thought of a resurgence act from India after two spineless, morale-pounding defeats in the FIH Hockey World League Final tournament. Not just the fans, even the self-belief of the boys also took a hit – but on Monday the Blueshirts produced something out of the ordinary to come really close to upsetting world number one Germany before settling for a pugnacious 3-3 draw at the Major Dhyan Chand National Stadium in New Delhi.

The Sardar Singh-led side must have exorcised the ghosts and now can back themselves to give world number two Australia a real run for their money in Wednesday’s quarterfinals. The hosts can take a lot of heart from the Germany match and billion hockey fans will hope for an encore against the Kookaburras.

What was really impressive about the Indians was the poise in which they controlled possession and fought hard for the ball when they were dispossessed – the way they got behind the German players in pursuit of the ball was something not seen on a day-to-day basis. What was also striking was that they took their time to pass the ball around and never seemed to in a hurry to mess up a pass or possession.

Terry Walsh’s pre-match strategizing seems to have been implemented near-perfectly by the boys, who were under pressure to silence their critics, who were baying for their blood given the ugly basic errors they indulged in the first two games, especially against New Zealand.

What was heartening to see was that there was no complacency on the Aussie’s part even when India were leading – he was never short of keeping the communicating lines open – animated talk with players who warm the bench during rolling substitution were a regular feature – just goes to show how he goes about his business.

Skipper Sardar Singh for all the spadework he put in the match, would rue the defensive bloomer that allowed Germany escape with a 3-3 draw three minutes from the final hooter – another lesson to be learnt – no game is over till the final hooter is blown – something cricket commentator Navjot Singh Sidhu would famously say ‘it isn’t over till the fat lady sings’.

Penalty corner conversion will be a bit of a concern, but India must have been at least happy to see Rupinder Pal Singh, who endured a horrible game against New Zealand, score one off a set-piece.
India are always a team which rides high on confidence – and playing out a 3-3 draw against the Olympic champions – a contest which they could have easily won had not for the defensive gaffe at the death – must have injected plenty of self-belief in the boys and hopefully they can carry the confidence into the Australia game.

We all know that Australia are a team which can rattle the opposition once they can into their groove. India can take their much deserved rest day on Tuesday to their advantage and plot their strategy of how to show the quarterfinal exit door to the Kookaburras.

Seeing our performance against Germany, hockey fans have many reasons to be optimistic about India putting it across Australia. A strong performance in a premier tournament will be a much needed tonic for Indian hockey – hopefully our boys will make us proud in this tourney and not walk the inconsistent path which they so consistently do.








2 comments:

Pankaj Sharma said...

Nicely summarized the match. Keep writing, Hockey and Hockey lovers need it.

Suhrid Barua said...

thanks a lot for visiting my blog ...appreciate your comments - please keep visiting my blog with your comments and make it a highly interactive platform

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