It was a victory every Indian fan celebrated, not because Malaysia were a good team but because of the consequences of a defeat. However, the first 12 minutes were a repetition of the lethargic approach against Belgium, resulting in us going 0-2 down.Two penalty corners, two goals — a clear indication of the homework done by the coach against the Indian penalty corner defence system, which other teams will probably follow. India should go for some variations, not only in attacking time but also defence to at least confuse the opponents’ plans. The team should not position itself on the line before the attackers finish their huddle before the penalty corners, or at least go for some dummy positioning and changes.Thursday, though, was actually Gagan’s day, and his goals showed he made use of every half-chance he had. His first-time shots at goal, even if off target, were deflected inside courtesy the Malaysian captain for one and then Baljit getting the chance to score the last one.It would be the best to utilise Gagan’s scoring skills and his reflexes/positioning inside the circle. Let him concentrate on loose balls or deflections to score and let the running and work be done by Deepak and Prabhjot, because both have stamina. And yesterday they made a tireless team with Vikram and Arjun Hallappa.Let’s not get carried away with this victory, however, because we have conceded 12 PCs to Malaysia, 10 from the left flank. The left midfield doesn’t appear to exist at all. If the Malaysians had maitained their early conversion rate, the result would have been very different.Despite the fact that they didn’t have skillful forwards making solo efforts and creating space for the team, whenever they had the ball on their right inside 25 yards of the Indian half, it was a cake walk for them to reach the striking circle and earn a PC. They had only prepared two variations, they never expected more opportunities.I feel Baljit Dhillon wasn’t able to play his role except in patches; he has to release the ball in order to make himself available, to change flanks or the pace of the match. He has to realize that he has to play the role of a game-maker and not scorer, then only we will be able to see the Indians settle down. In Pillay’s absence he has to carry the team forward with responsibility and not leave the central midfield at the mercy of juniors who are to excited to run with the ball at different corners.The coach’s priority now is to strengthen his midfield, with a supporting half in the left defence, to succeed against Pakistan. Because Pakistan can not only score skillfully but also earn penalty corners — their most lethal weapon, especially since we don’t have great rushers like Dhanraj and Jugraj.Pakistan are playing a mixture of their traditional style blended with the expertise of Roeland Oltmanns, who is suppose to be the best analyser and has the skills to play a team in various capacities and modes as per the opponents moves or even the body language.
