India ready to take on Aussie aggro

The India-Australia tie should be an intriguing affair, apart from being a clash of styles that should make for a top class contest, at least on paper.

While India coach Harendra Singh said the outcome tomorrow would depend on the day’s form, his Australian counterpart Mark Hager preferred to hedge his bet, saying the encounter would be close.

But neither coach was prepared to commit on the result and understandably so. The Indians have been typically unpredictable in their performance that has swung from sublime, as against the Netherlands whom them beat 4-1, to mediocre during their 1-0 win versus England last night that clinched them the semifinal berth. In contrast, the Australians have been sustaining a high level of performance except during their shock 1-3 defeat to Argentina yesterday which could be put down to slackness due to the fact that they had already qualified for the semifinal.

However, the Indian camp would have surely looked closely at two other matches that stretched Australia. Pakistan lost 2-3 to the Aussies, while Malaysia held them to a 3-3 draw. In both these games, the Australian defence was put to test and there were moments when they looked as vulnerable as the next team.

Hager admitted that he was concerned about the sudden lapses in concentration, but was confident that his team would tighten up.

“We need to play consistently against teams like India and Pakistan. On Friday, we would be very focussed which was not the case when we took on argentina,” Hager said.