India know they aren’t playing to full potential

He was quick to blame the umpiring for the loss. ‘‘The yellow card to Dhanraj was unfair. And several of our scoops were disallowed, when it was perfectly legal. What can you do in such circumstances?’’

The statement just about sums India’s dismal run at the tournament. The story has followed a familiar script of fumbling on the big stage with below-par performance from India’s best-ever team in modern times.

Defeat on Thursday means the Indians are out of contention for a top-four finish, though they have a theoretical chance if the others in the fray mess things up in heavyweight proportions. So on Saturday India are playing for pride.

‘‘We will still take our remaining matches one at a time, and try to win both. But it definitely makes things worse that everything depends more on other teams than our own performance’’, the playersaid.

Ironically, the decider that sealed India’s fate was the best performance from them in the tournament. India controlled the game for a major part, something they are not really known to do. And coming back from a 1-3 deficit to equalise speaks volumes about the efforts the Indians put into the game.

PROS AND CONS

ON THE BRIGHT SIDE

• The Indian wall is the saving grace: Dilip Tirkey’s solid presence and goalkeeper Adrian d’Souza’s alertness under the bars

• Veterans Pillay and Baljeet Singh Dhillon have shouldered their responsibility

• Finally, the Indians appeared to be playing to a definite plan — but abandoned it right at the end

THE RECURRING PROBLEMS

• Gagan Ajit Singh, Prabhjot Singh and Deepak Thakur appear out of form at the same time. Especially Prabhjot, who almost seems to be on tranquilisers

• The exclusion of Sandeep Michael from the Athens-bound squad is beginning to rebound; his presence would have given India an extra option in the attack

• Finally, the ‘C’ word: Choking again at the end. A team packed with experience should know they have to play till the hooter, and close down a match when on level terms and a man short