On paper, 2-4 is better than 1-5. The Indian men’s hockey team bridged the gap a bit but went down in a six-goal clash against their nemesis Australia in Perth on Sunday to trail 0-2 in the five-match series.
Before the team departed to Australia, head coach Craig Fulton had said that going toe-to-toe for long periods was the key to beating the Kookaburras. Unfortunately, for the second day running, a drop-off in the level – especially in the third quarter – proved to be India’s undoing. A 15-minute blitz saw Australia score three times to turn around a 1-2 half-time deficit.
“The Aussies punished us for our mistakes but I didn’t think we were at the races, to be honest,” Fulton had said pre-match about his side’s performance in the first game, and India gave a better account of themselves in the first 30 minutes of the second encounter.
Australia took an early lead once again but unlike the first match, India had more control in the first half, especially staying tighter in defence even when the hosts ramped up the intensity. The equaliser came from a signature drag-flick from Jugraj Singh, one of the speediest hitters in the game when he is on his game.
The second quarter was mostly Australian possession but India set themselves up for a smash-and-grab. Hardik Singh, back in the playing squad and showing in patches why he is the heartbeat of this side, set up a penalty corner with a high ball – a tactic that India used well in the first half.
Up stepped Harmanpreet Singh for his set-piece of the day, and smashed it to the right of the Aussie custodian to give India something to protect heading into the second half. “When we have the ball, we need to control it better. Defensively we are closer together and intercepting the ball, looking for a counter. That’s been pretty good I think,” Harmanpreet said at the halftime interview.
Tale of two halves
But both those aspects would desert India for the rest of the match at critical junctures. First up, India got a taste of their own medicine as Australia used the aerial ball into the box as a tactic to win a penalty corner. Krishan Pathak conceded a goal the exact same way he did in the first quarter, with Jeremy Hayward going low to the goalkeeper’s right. The latter had his hands on his head, and would be disappointed when he watches it again.
Australia’s third came from a long ball along the turf into the danger area, that got a couple of deflections to beat Pathak. The Indian defence was once again exposed shortly after as Amit Rohidas – who had a really impressive first half – lost the ball cheaply in midfield to create a 3-v-3 situation from which Nathan Ephraums fired in a superb first-time finish.
While the defensive mistakes could be seen as one-offs that may be avoided on another day, the more worrying aspect for India remains a lack of consistent output from their forwards. On various occasions, when their defenders and midfielders did well to force turnovers, they lost the ball while trying to counter.
Passes from midfield into the circle were regularly mistrapped and on one occasion in Q1, Shamsher Singh slammed the ball into the crossbar from a yard or two away when scoring would have been easier. Australia’s second goal too came moments after India missed a gilt-edged chance to make it 3-1.
Even the usually reliable Abhishek was guilty of missing opportunities due to over-dribbling, while the likes of Akashdeep Singh, Mandeep Singh, and Lalit Upadhyay failed to make a mark again.
At one point in the final quarter, the commentator for the Aussie broadcaster wondered: “Do India get enough from their forwards?” It’s a question that’s been on the minds of Indian hockey fans for a while now, and it’s one that needs answering in the days and months to come.
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