India’s rivals in world hockey share a common belief. No matter how good India are on the day, it is held, a mistake is just around the corner. It could come in the form of a wrong decision in the middle of the park or a defensive blunder; very early in the game or towards the later stakes. And so, they wait. Weather the counter-attacking storm, run to a defensive wall and wait patiently for that one error, which would present them with an opportunity to score.
On Wednesday, Australia did just that. For three quarters, they waited and waited. Stole the ball, launched blinding attacks and fired a dozen shots at the Indian goal, only to be stopped by a heroic PR Sreejesh. They even went behind, a fine drag-flick by Jugraj Singh put India ahead against the run of play in the 41st minute.
Three minutes later came the dreaded Indian mistake.
It began with a harmless back pass towards Amit Rohidas inside the ‘D’. All the Indian defender had to do was trap and pass it forward. But his first touch was heavy and the ball went away from him. The Australian attacker pounced on the error and got to the ball. Rohidas panicked and body-checked the forward. Penalty stroke.
After a hard-fought battle till the final whistle, Australia emerges victorious once more in the 5-match series, now leading 3-0. 🏑
Yet, tonight, our boys showcased unwavering courage and determination to fight back. Team India will rise again, stronger than ever!
Australia… pic.twitter.com/7nMaj4tI34
— Hockey India (@TheHockeyIndia) April 10, 2024
Jeremy Hayward sent Sreejesh the wrong way. And just like that, the match that was always in Australia’s control swung decisively in their favour. Hayward scored again in the 49th minute from a penalty corner to seal a 2-1 win for Australia.
The third defeat in a row means Australia clinched the five-match series in Perth. But for India, this defeat will hurt more than the previous two.
Until that fateful Rohidas mistake, India were in the game. They, in fact, were in the exact position that coach Craig Fulton would have wanted them to. India even played the way he would want them to more often against the likes of Australia.
There weren’t many flashy moves forward. Instead, India were happy to keep the ball and patient enough to recycle the possession when Australia put all bodies in their half. They switched flanks and didn’t hesitate to play the ball backwards if all passing angles were blocked. In doing so, they made Australia run a lot more than they have in this series.
Raheel Mohammad was once again at the heart of most creative moves India made up front. The young attacker from Bangalore is making a late push for inclusion in the Paris-bound team and given how impotent India’s goal-scorers are, any flash of creativity will be welcome.
India tried to control the match by keeping the ball a lot more and using the aerial passes to bypass the midfield. This was the most noticeable improvement in this series, given how sluggish and sloppy India looked in the previous two matches.
But they were far from perfect. At times, India’s basic skills let them down. Especially in the attacking third, where a couple of missed traps foiled good counterattacks.
Fulton would have been happier with the fact that India kept the game close until the very end. It’s something Sreejesh pointed out post-match, noting that the low scoreline was an improvement from the heavy defeats earlier.
At the same time, the coach and his players must feel frustrated at how India kept on losing the ball in their own half. The constant turnovers meant India could never have sustained spells of pressure despite enjoying more possession than the earlier matches.
To top that, they conceded soft penalty corners all through the game. Manpreet Singh, Vivek Sagar Prasad, Harmanpreet Singh and Rohidas were all guilty of allowing the Aussies to find their feet inside the ‘D’ far too easily at times.
If not for Sreejesh – the veteran has laid to rest any doubt as to which of the two goalkeepers should be on the plane to Paris – India could have been down by four or five goals in the first half itself.
The goalkeeper, who will be 36 by the time Olympics begin, was constantly tested by the Aussies, who aimed both sides of his goal, and kept their shots low and high. Sreejesh was up to the task, and even pulled off an incredible double save in the third quarter to keep India in the match.
He seemed like the only player in total control at all times. Although the rest backed him up with a much-improved performance, their best so far in this tour, it still wasn’t enough to hold the mighty Australians to a draw, let alone beat them.
And that, one gets a feeling, won’t happen until India get rid of the one thing the entire hockey world knows will happen while playing them: one costly, game-changing mistake.
.