In the end, it was another similar story for the India hockey men’s team as they faced their second defeat in three games in the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup, going down 2-4 against World Champions Australia.
India coach Sjoerd Marijne fielded a young side against the top ranked team in the world who arrived at the tournament with their full strength. There’s, of course, no shame in losing to the best side in the world. A defeat was on the cards, yes but to their credit, India had their moments during the match that could have altered the eventual outcome.
A draw was a possibility, but then lack of discipline and finishing once again came to hinder India.
And of course, penalty corners - India’s Achilles heel.
Here are the talking points from the game.
Defensive lapses
India started the game with caution but towards the end of the first quarter, they were dictating terms. Australia were being outrun by the young India squad with 19-year-old Dipsan Tirkey going toe-to-toe with the Australian strikers as was Sumit. India’s defence looked tall and sturdy and was under very little pressure in the early stages. Or rather, didn’t seem like. The fearless approach must have taken the Kookaburras by surprise.
The second half also saw India on top but towards the end, a defensive lapse saw the men in blue concede a penalty stroke and Mark Knowles scored his 30th international goal to give the Kookaburras a 1-0 lead.
In the third quarter, Australia showed their might as they outclassed India in every department. Before you knew it, Australia were 4-0 up as India’s defence crumbled. Aran Zalewski, Blake Govers and Daniel Beale scored.
But it is worth noting that the last two goals came for Australia when Amit Rohidas was on the sidelines because of a yellow card due to which India were down to 10 men for five minutes. In a game that they registered 38 fouls, the one by Rohidas in the third quarter when he was pedalling back in midfield proved to be the most costly.
It was a similar story against Argentina in the opener as well.
Lack of finishing
Along with the lack of indiscipline, India have also struggled in front of goal during the entire course of this tournament. India could have been 1-0 up in the first quarter as Ramandeep Singh’s exquisite pass found Shilanand Lakra, and two other forwards with just the goalkeeper to beat, and the trio somehow conspired to miss the chance. Credit to Australian goalkeeper Andrew Charter who pulled of an amazing save offf Lakra, however, on the rebound, the ball meet Sumit’s stick who failed to capitalize as the ball went wide.
India made nine circle entries during the match, with a majority coming in the first two quarters. However, none were converted into goals. This shows that India are creating chances, but finishing is a cause of concern.
When you add poor penalty conversion rate of the team into the mix, the final product lacks flavour. India yet again failed to convert the two penalty corners they won - drawing a blank for the second game running - with Varun Kumar the culprit, missing both chances. Australia converted one in the four chances they got.
Till date in the tournament, India have won 14 penalty corners and have converted only two. Such a poor conversion rate is bound to hurt the team.
Ramandeep Singh shines
In the fourth quarter, however, Australia were hit by back-to-back goals by Ramandeep. The 24-year-old was at his sublime best. He made deep runs and was quick on his feet and always looked to create space and score. Even against Argentina and England, he was one of the outstanding performers for India. All he required was assistance from the midfielders and strike partner Gurjant Singh.
Ramandeep is one of the senior players in the squad and has played more than 100 matches for the country. That’s the sort of experience that this team doesn’t have in Malaysia. While Sardar Singh’s performances from the midfield haven’t exactly been awe inspiring, Ramandeep is leading the line by example. A chance at making the final maybe out of this team’s grasp but with games coming up against Malaysia, Ireland and England, the youngsters should be inspired by their frontman’s performance against the Aussies and look to replicate it, starting against the hosts on Wednesday.
A little inspiration and a lot of discipline could still see this Indian team get something out the tournament.