India lose plot, tie & final berth

Nobody expected the match to be easy but the Indians played as if they had no desire to stay in the hunt for the top spot. Their forwards looked jaded and could get only penalty corner in the match. Except for the offcolour Baljit Singh Dhillon who returned to form today, the rest lacked imagination and firepower.

The list of errors was woeful. Chief goalpoacher Gagan Ajit Singh looked rusty and missed quite a few chances in the second half. Skipper Dhanraj Pillay hit the ball straight into the goalkeeper’s pad when he had an easy chance in the first half.

The most significant miss, though, was by winger Prabhjot Singh, who muffed a simple chance to turn the match to India’s favour. With four Indian forwards against two Australian defenders inside the ‘D’, Prabhjot got carried away and took the shot himself. It was a wild reverse hit and metres away from the target, when all that was needed was a gentle push to the unmarked Indians in the ‘D’.

There were more missed chances in the first half; few after the break, though, as the Australians tightened their grip on the match.

If the Indian forwards missed chances, the midfield had hardly any room to manoeuvre. Playmaker Bimal Lakra went through another lean patch in this crucial encounter and, with left-half Ignace Tirkey, was in no position to launch any countermoves.

The Indian attack was built mainly by Dhillon, who had to leave his regular position as inside-right and rush frequently to the aid of the midfielders. The supply-line from the midfield was cut off and it was inevitable that the forwards would also find it hard to tackle the pressure.