Indian hockey team will now have loads of self-belief of beating top sides

One could not have faulted the Indian hockey fans if they thought that the national team had exorcised the ghosts of us being handed a 0-8 shellacking by Australia at the Major Dhyan Chand National Stadium in New Delhi in the final of the 2010 Commonwealth Games. The Blueshirts showed so much grit and pluck in the first twenty-odd minutes of play that prompted one to believe whether ‘one was living in a dream’ – the scoreline read India 2 Australia 0. The deafening decibels levels at the Stadium only pumped up the Indians to go for broke and not sit on their 2-0 lead.

Mind you, it’s an absolutely rarity to not just see the Indian team match a top side but also gain an early lead (at most times the ‘conceding early goal’ bug hits us hard). What actually did India do to nullify the Aussies’ plans early on? Well, Australia were not allowed to play to their natural strengths – they like to make the most of the open spaces in the rival opposition, but India plugged all those gaps and significantly maintained possession, even showed the audacity to dictate terms to their much superior opponents.

The improving fitness levels of the Indians were on show as they matched the Aussies and did not even hesitate to throw themselves around. It was so heartening to see SV Sunil pushing back to help the defence – a fair indication of how head coach Terry Walsh has earmarked roles for each player.

Of course, the vastly superior fitness levels of the Kookaburras were always get the better of the fitness levels of the Indians – it showed as the Blueshirts seemed to have exhausted all they had in their tank in the first half and the ‘fatigue’ factor came into play as they were not as mobile and swift as the Aussies, who were like a battering ram, and kept pounding away on the pitch for the whole duration of play.

The spectators at the Major Dhyan Chand National Stadium would have anticipated a cracker of a second half after what they saw in the first half. A own goal from Australia and second strike from Yuvraj Walmiki before a Kookaburras’ margin-reducer just before half-time seemed like setting the stage for an intriguing second half.

But all the expectations of home fans went up in smoke as the scoreline soon transformed from a what looked like a needle contest to a one-sided affair as Australia took India by the scruff of their neck in the second half and did not allow them adequate possession to mount their comeback plans.

The Kookaburras’ four strikes in the second half after trailing 0-2 at one stage just shows how supremely confident the world champions are. How to claw your way back from being down by a goal or two is the perhaps the biggest lesson for India, who tend to throw in the defeat towel very easily if they leak a goal or two early in the match.

Having said that, India’s biggest positive from this tournament is that the team will be loaded with a vital ammunition – self-belief – the manner in which they took the lead thrice against Olympic champions Germany before settling for a draw and the way in which they rattled the world champions Australia for most part of the first half, holding a 2-0 lead – should give them the confidence to think they can beat top sides irrespective of their number ten world ranking.

Fair to suggest that the revival journey of Indian hockey has well and truly begun!