Last rehearsal, India must get their lines right for Olympics

However, for India the tour Down Under comes in a mixed atmosphere. Last year, Indian hockey was on a resurgence after finishing fourth in the Champions Trophy but they have struggled to find their form in two tournaments this year.

Normally, four months before the Olympics, teams are expected to be finetuning their strategy and players position but not so with the Indian team. Their list of woes seems to have grown since the team came together in 2002 under then-new coach Rajinder Singh.

The issue which should worry Indian hockey right now is the absence of a quality drag-flicker in the team. The Indian think-tank has not, surprisingly, found a substitute for Jugraj Singh almost a year since he got injured. The IHF did have an option in the promising Sandeep Singh, who had scored heavily in a five-nation junior tournament in Poland in 2003 and also impressed in the Azlan Shah tournament this year in KL.

Despite the high opinion of members of the Indian team, Rajinder Singh has not shown much interest in the youngster and has focused on just one player in the last few months, Len Ayyappa. Sandeep is part of the squad for the Junior Asia Cup which is being held in Karachi.

Ayyappa was given an opportunity at the Afro-Asian Games held in Hyderabad last year but has hardly justified his inclusion till now. India’s PC problem seems to have been amplified by Pakistan’s PC expert Sohail Abbas, who has been responsible for beating India three consecutive times in the last few months. For the Australia tour, Rajinder has also included newcomer Jatinder Pal Singh, who plays for Punjab and Sind Bank in the domestic circuit.

After India’s insipid performance in the Olympic qualifying tournament in Madrid, it seems there is a dearth of a top-class playmaker in the team also. Without a feeder, the talented forwardline cannot function as seen in the previous tournament. Dhanraj Pillay, who has played successfully in this position, was not even considered for the Australian tour.

The other playmaker Baljit Dhillon was dropped on ‘form’ after the Madrid qualifiers.

For the Australia tour, the IHF made six changes in the team – Raju, Jatinderpal Singh, Ajit Pal Singh, Inderjeet Chadha, Harpal Singh and Sunil Yadav are the new inductees while veterans Dhillon and Baljit Saini have been dropped.