 "Indian men's hockey team poses with sports minister. Photo: PTI")
For about 59 minutes of this thoroughly engrossing encounter, India, for once, made the defending Olympic champions look fairly ordinary and prosaic. The ball was struck around the pitch with uncanny crispness, the interceptions at the back were speedy, and the forays into the German circle were replete with purpose and imagination. Against a genuine powerhouse team, all was well, it seemed.
Just then, as India were getting ready to soak themselves in the ecstasy of an important draw, a familiar pattern of play played out. The Indian defence inexplicably switched off and the Germans crashed home the winner to walk away with an unlikely 2-1 victory. For a team that defended so obdurately throughout the game, conceding a tame goal to a hopeful ball swept into the circle was a sickening blow to the gut, and its confidence.
But as has been the case with the Indian team over the last year, this match, too, threw up some obvious reasons for optimism. The defence, led by Rupinder Pal Singh and V R Raghunath, held out well for major parts of the game; the midfield ensured the tempo wasn’t too frantic. And, Nikkin Thimmaiah and S V Sunil terrorised the German defence with their pace and guile in the second half.
Post-match, India’s Dutch coach, Roelant Oltmans, spoke about the how encouraging the performance was, but also stressed on the need to find a way to win matches. Tactically, Oltmans was shrewd: he packed the midfield, often stifling the Germans for space. The opposition, for long, lived in the fear of a rampaging Indian counter-attack – several came but much to Oltmans’ despair, there was no end product. Unfortunately, the coach’s ingenious planning wasn’t quite backed up by efficient execution.
India can obviously take heart from another spirited performance, but one wonders for how long. The team has spent the last one year planning for just this, and the fans and probably the coach himself, must be getting increasingly impatient for the entire time to flow in splendid symphony.
After mightily impressive results at the Azlan Shah and the Champions Trophy, the Olympic team was supposed to be the finished article – stating that Oltmans and captain P R Sreejesh have work to do may be a mild understatement.
However, unlike most Indian teams from Olympics past, this side has every once in a while shown that it can beat some of the best sides in the world. They are young and come with a certain exciting novelty factor that some
opponent teams have failed to get around in the last couple of years. More tellingly, this is unarguably the fittest Indian hockey side we’ve ever seen: they masterly manage to keep pace with the opposition and seldom fade away in tense, high-octane matches. Perhaps it’s only the mindset that Oltmans has to turn around.
Against Argentina tonight, India face a grossly unpredictable team that lacks flair but more than makes up for that with sheer physicality and robustness. As banal as it may sound, there are no easy games in the Olympics – India’s hard-fought 3-2 win against supposed minnows Ireland in their opener being the perfect example. Argentina will be incredibly testing, if not extremely unwinnable.
Along with a sturdy defence, what the team needs is a higher conversion in front of goal in normal play. While the high penalty corner conversion must impress Oltmans, an overreliance on the two drag-flickers is a clear sign of listless finishing in the opposition circle. It’s about time Sunil and Thimmaiah start latching on to the opportunities that come their way.
With The Netherlands to follow later in the week, the match against Argentina holds enormous significance. A minor wobble this evening can undo a whole year of arduous preparation. Oltmans and his players would know that.
Hopefully, there will be no last-minute calamities this time.
