Tags:
Journalism of Courage
It was a fantastic match, and this victory will go a long way in helping the Indian team get a grip on themselves. A victory against any top country is an achievement, and when it is a victory over Pakistan, it is doubly sweet.
But most importantly, it was a victory for the Asian style of hockey. We saw a match with 11 goals, some of them fantastic individual or team efforts. We could come back hard and score five goals in a row when we were 4-2 down, because the entire team rallied together and played for a common cause.
As far as strategy goes, I think the masterstroke was in playing Baljit Singh Dhillon as the gamemaker, or a withdrawn forward. This sort of intent to attack, and tackling and retackling, was missing completely from our game earlier in the tournament. We didn’t let a single Pakistani go past us without trying to cut him down. The great thing about Asian hockey is that it provides both teams with an opportunity at all times. Today, we made use of the opportunities better than them — we opened up the game by using our flanks effectively, which Pakistan couldn’t.
Using Baljit as withdrawn forward meant that Dharaj Pillay could be played in a more flexible role. Dhanraj used short accelerations very effectively and sent off two younger guys, each time, on runs down the flanks as he went with the ball down the middle.
There are two other reasons why we played so well. First, we used our bench-strength properly for a change. Bringing in Tejbir Singh helped organise our midfield as he controlled the game. And second, we shuffled the forward-line up a bit. Deepak Thakur, the magnificent Gagan Ajit Singh and Prabhjot Singh were all playing floating roles. Lots of fake runs, gaps and confusion in the Pakistan ranks and lots of quick short passes.
About the individuals, Jugraj played a marvellous game, almost like a man possessed. He not only converted two penalty corners, he played the role of game-opener to perfection. But I would prefer seeing our coach use Jugraj a bit more carefully. He is a very important member of the team, and probably shouldn’t be used as the chaser when the opposition gets a penalty corner.
He could have got hurt very badly from the Sohail Abbas drag flick. It should be avoided. Supreme confidence breeds super efforts. Gagan Ajit went in today brimming with confidence, and it was reflected in his executions. Two fantastic goals that changed the entire complexion of the match in the space of a few minutes.
Credit should go to everyone. But I would like to add a word of caution for the future. This style of Asian hockey, which is so attractive to watch, only worked today because we played another Asian team.
We will still need to work on tactics, strategy and gameplans in a much wider perspective if we hope to do well against the hockey superpowers of the day – Holland, Germany and Australia.
