Performance in recent tournaments shows that Team India has improved in trapping and defence
lazy voices have called an inquest into India’s 9th place finish at the World Cup. Criticism of the coaching structure and player ability has such a familiar ring that we might be forgiven for thinking it is Kabuki. Strangely, the daggers get drawn only after a tournament; the pain of a truthful appraisal is too much to bear. In this dust and din theatre, we forget that India’s performance was not much worse than its ranking. Why should the world’s 8th-ranked team’s defeat to the 1st, 4th and 5th-ranked teams surprise anybodyIJ
Yet, rankings do not tell the toil as it was. India’s performance actually improved in the World Cup. let us revisit the last tournament of similar stature India had played: the 2012 london Olympics. like the World Cup the team at london had a very good coaching structure, even innovative low Oxygen training, making it truly fit. Yet, India lost all its matches in london, including the classification game to lower-ranked South Africa. But in the World Cup India did not lose a single game to a lower-ranked team, ending with a much better goal difference (-2) than at london (-13).
Sport, like life, evolves in gradual patterns. Those who have watched India’s games since the Olympics qualifying tournament in Delhi in 2012 would have noticed improvement in trapping and defence. In the 2012 Champions Trophy India’s composed hockey yielded a 4th place finish, a feat India had last accomplished in 2004. For the first time since 2002 India won back-to-back matches in the Champions Trophy. In the 2013 World league semi-finals at Rotterdam, India drew against New Zealand and suffered only a narrow defeat to Spain. These two teams have tormented India in recent years .
India was able to carry the momentum of the World league to the Asia Cup 2013 where it comfortably beat Malaysia in the semi-finals. In the finals against Korea India needed to play tight- fisted hockey, and to avoid easy fouls. The team’s passing lost the pinpoint edge, and Korea’s winning goal was the result of an Indian defensive error. The game was a satiating tug of war which Korea won — but just. Korea beat India like a finalist, and India played like a quick-learning apprentice.
The failure to win the Asia Cup meant India had lost a chance to qualify for the World Cup. But by putting excessive focus on this point many forgot that Korea won because it was the better team. luckily, by securing the 6th position in the 2013 World league semi-finals India had done enough to secure World Cup qualification, as the 3rd reserve. After the trauma of the london Olympics this in itself was an achievement. The prospect of not playing the World Cup had been nullified.
In the World Cup, improving India showed its mettle even in the narrow defeats to Belgium and England. India kept pressing the throttle as the tournament progressed. After conceding goals to Belgium and England in the dying minutes, in the games against Spain, Malaysia and Korea, India were able to play the ball around to close out the game. Against Spain it hung on, and saw off a late Malaysian surge to win the game. For the first time since 1994 India beat Korea in a World Cup.
This Indian team actually managed to roll back its historical meltdowns. Remember the Atlanta Olympics where India simply wilted at not making the semi-finalsIJ Surely, there has been better communication between the coach and the team this time on. India also avoided silly errors. Goalkeeper Sreejesh (Parattu Ravindran) reaped the benefits of specialized goalkeeping coaching, and lalit Upadhyaya and Yuvraj Walmiki showed promise.
However, there could be a quibble about the mental aspect. India did something like a lap of honour even after losing the opening game to Belgium. What was the team celebratingIJ Perhaps the players thought that almost managing to hold Belgium was an achievement in itself. A similar thing had happened at the Atlanta Olympics where India ran a victory lap after drawing against Pakistan. Cluttered minds might have led to the defeat to England in the next game.
Ultimately, it is the mental preparation that turns matches. Just playing the higher-ranked teams in the World Cup will give the team confidence for the Commonwealth Games, the Asian Games and the Champions Trophy. This is important, because India had gone into the london Olympics without having played the Beijing Olympics. Only two players in london had played the Olympics before, and the team was overawed by the setting. The current team faces no such disadvantage, having just played the best in the business.
As part of preparation, players also need to mimic the settings of major tournaments. Kukoo Walia, who organizes the Nehru Hockey tournament, once told me that Nehru Hockey tries its best to give junior players a feel of world class facilities to boost confidence levels. By hiring coaches of proven ability and creating world- class playing conditions in India, Hockey India has set the conditions for further ascension. We wish the Indian men’s and women’s teams the very best for the Commonwealth Games.
Jitendra Nath Misra is an Indian Foreign Service officer and is currently India’s ambassador to Portugal. These are his personal views, not those of the government of India. He can be reached at jnmisra@hotmail.com.