After scripting a win for the ages in the men’s hockey quarter-final against Great Britain at the 2024 Paris Olympics, India take on Germany for a place in the final. India, eight-time Olympic gold medallists, have never reached the final since winning their final gold medal at the 1980 Games in Moscow.
Standing in their way are World Cup winners Germany in what would be a rematch of the bronze medal match from Tokyo 2020 which India won.
India, however, will be without the services of one of their key players, Amit Rohidas. The defender was shown the red card for dangerous play in India’s quarter-final match against Great Britain after hitting an opposition player on the head with his stick.
Rohidas and India protested that he had no intention of hitting the player, but the umpires ruled that the defender’s stick was in an unnatural position which led to a dangerous situation.
India were dealt a further blow later when the FIH Technical Delegate handed Rohidas an additional one-match suspension for violation of the player conduct code ruling him out of the semi-final.
Though India appealed the decision, the FIH upheld its ruling. Against Germany, India will only field a 15-player squad. Not only will that leave coach Craig Fulton with less defensive options, but it also means that Indian defenders will have to put an extra shift with fewer rolling substitute options available.
The 31-year-old Rohidas is an experienced defender for India and has played 184 times for his country since making his debut in 2013. He has been an integral part of the Indian team over the last Olympic cycle and forms a formidable partnership in the heart of the defence along with captain Harmanpreet Singh.
Patient on the ball and brilliant at last-ditch defending, Rohidas’ presence ensures Harmanpreet Singh can be more creative from deep with his long aerial balls and diagonal passes. Rohidas’ defensive abilities were key to India winning bronze at the Tokyo Olympics and he won the Hockey India Pargat Singh Award For Defender Of The Year in 2021.
Rohidas’ absence will be most felt when India defends penalty corners. The 31-year-old is India’s main first-rusher, whose job is to charge down and block opposition drag flickers. Throughout the tournament, India have relied on Rohidas and Manpreet Singh to defend penalty corners.
Rohidas is also India’s second-choice drag-flicker in Paris behind Harmanpreet Singh, offering an alternate option when the captain is off the pitch. The 31-year-old has chipped in with goals in many matches for India. Against a solid German side, India will have to solely rely on Harmanpreet Singh from penalty corners.
With Rohidas unavailable, India will need someone else to step up and get the job done against Germany.
India play Germany in the men’s hockey semi-final at 10.30pm IST.
