We have lost against the Europeans. We have been smashed by the Australians. And taught a lesson by the Latinos. Now the only place we have is Asia. The question the Indians have to answer now is whether or not we are prepared to hold on to our domination in Asia. In our last encounter against Pakistan in Perth, Australia, we beat them. But we mustn’t forget that Pakistan’s best player — Sohail Abbas — was missing in that match. He is the pivot around which the Pakistan team resolves, whether in defence or in the vital penalty corner conversion area. Another thing we mustn’t forget is that our morale and mental state is far lower than Pakistan’s at the moment. I suggest that because we have no chance of winning the tournament or coming in the top few anymore, our aim in the match against Pakistan should be to play a match to remember. The match between Pakistan and India at Cologne in the 2002 Champions Trophy was declared the best match of the tournament. I suggest we go out against Pakistan in Amstelveen with the same purpose. Forget about the past losses and disappointments - just go out, have fun, and play a damn good game of hockey. As far as our strategy against Pakistan is concerned, I think our attackers have to enter the turf with a result-oriented frame of mind. There can’t be any signs of unwillingness to penetrate the opponents’ D or to make long fake runs down the flanks to throw their defenders off. We have to show the thrusting skills I know our forwards have, but haven’t been able to show so far. The penetrative skills of the forwards is the key to winning a match, and that’s where we have fallen short. Dhanraj Pillay, again, has to play the role of a leader as he has always done against Pakistan in the past. He has to create his own gaps to move forward and not rely on his teammates to prepare situations for him. He has done that in the previous matches and that’s another area where we have suffered. Pillay has to move to the left flank keeping in view the fragility of their right defence. Pakistan depend too much on Sohail, who plays at the left. We also have to reduce the huge gaps that have often developed between our attackers and defenders each time we have moved forward. Both our flanks have been totally empty after our attacks, because the players have refused to drop back quickly enough. That can’t happen again. I even won’t mind starting with only Gagan Ajit Singh on the right and playing Dhanraj, Prabhjot Singh and Deepak Thakur on the left. Baljit Singh Dhillon could then play the role of attacking centre half that he is most comfortable in. Speaking about the Pakistan skills, Sohail apart, they have very good attackers in Rehan Butt, Ahmed Nadeem and Shabbir, not to forget that fantastic skills of Ali Mudassar. Kashif also has to be tackled head on with power, otherwise they will enter our 25-yard area and cause problems. A last spot of advice to the Indians - don’t wait for the ball to come to you; attack, snatch, tackle and retackle. Otherwise, there’s no way out.
