Discipline, Not Flair Is What Indian Hockey Needs

AS HOSTS of the Hockey World Cup, India were expected to put up a much better show than what they did. Although eighth position sounds somewhat better than eleventh, which is what India finished at the last World Cup in 2006, the fact remains that this time the Indian team recorded just one victory and had four defeats (there was one draw also). 
 
Four losses in the World Cup, especially to teams like Spain and Argentina tells a lot about this side, whose defence line in the tournament had holes like Swiss cheese. Also, India could not use the home advantage at all and their best moment came in the opening game against Pakistan.
 
That performance raised hopes. But after that heady start, it was all downhill. The Indians showed some glimpses of quality hockey in their free flowing attacks, but to do well as a team they have to defend well. The forward line should also fall back to defend as that is what all-round hockey is all about. Rather than play like forwards, midfielders and defenders, the team would have done better by playing as all-rounders. That is what the Europeans and Australia displayed with such skill at this World Cup. Man-to-man marking and tight defence was needed for India, but they failed miserably.
 
The fact that Asian neighbours Pakistan played abysmal hockey and finished at rock bottom the World Cup, should bring no balm or solace for the hosts because the Indians should be concentrating on their own game. They should try and emulate the Europeans and learn a trick or two from the Australians.
 
The never-say-die spirit of these teams should be an eye-opener for the Indians. Apart from the porous defence and the lack of will of the strikers, the Indians were also short of innovations. Every time there was a penalty corner to be taken, the Indians just had one monotonous plan – drag flick by Sandeep Singh. New ideas were nowhere to be seen.
 
Also, if Sandeep is not scoring with his dragflicks, he is a dodgy defender and perhaps a liability on the field. Some other players also looked out of sorts. Brasa needs to have relook at their positions. The captain of the team was seldom in the starting eleven and almost always started on the bench. Come on, this is not the Davis Cup! How can the captain inspire the team when he starts from the bench. It was quite apparent throughout the tournament that the coach has more confidence in Prabhjot (the way he hugged him after he scored against Pakistan) than he has in Rajpal.
 
This was a great opportunity for the Indian hockey players to show that they can compete with the best. The fans did their bit by thronging the venue and cheering for the home team. But the home team disappointed in a big way.
 
The Commonwealth and the Asian Games will again provide a chance for this outfit to redeem themselves somewhat. But the Indians need to play with discipline and like a unit. Flair might bring them the odd win (like the one against Pakistan) but discipline, man-to-man marking, tight defence, gritty strikers, innovations in penalty corners etc… these are the kind of things that can make them consistent. Consistently good, that is.