India nearly perfect in practice

The Johor Cup match result was,in fact,2-1 in India’s favour,but Bleby could be excused for remembering a wider margin of defeat. For the actual scoreline that day didn’t really do justice to the extent of India’s domination of England.

The gulf between the two the team was again evident on Saturday,and the scoreline too more like it this time,as India thrashed England 4-1 in the practice match at the National Stadium.

As soon as the match started,India took control while their English counterparts struggled to find their feet. Akashdeep Singh set up the first goal,in the fourth minute,when he breached England’s defence and passed the ball to Talwinder Singh inside the circle. Talwinder first attempt was blocked by the goalkeeper but the forward pounced on the rebound and slotted the ball home.

England drew level in the 20th minute in a similar fashion when Indian goalkeeper Harjot Singh failed to clear the ball after initially blocking the shot.

The match was divided into three periods of 20 minutes each. India went ahead again after resumption when Gurjinder Singh produced one of his net-scorching dragflicks off India’s first penalty corner.

While England tried to assert themselves in the second period,Indian defence,led by vice-captain Amit Rohidas,didn’t give them any space. Rohidas,then,increased the lead in the final period,scoring off a penalty corner as Gurjinder distracted the charging defenders with a dummy.

Akashdeep on board

Soon after,Akashdeep,who had been threatening with some breathtaking stick work all evening,finally struck will a brilliant solo effort. He dodged a couple of defenders to enter the circle from the right,drew the goalkeeper forward and — bang — unleashed a reverse hit to the bottom-left corner to make it 4-1.

However,as India coach Gregg Clark said on Friday,scorelines in practice games do not matter much. It’s a platform where teams look to apply different strategies in match situation.

getting it right

On that count as well,India will take a lot of heart from today’s performance. One aspect of their game that has come under the scanner of late has been penalty corners. But with Gurjinder returning from elbow injury and senior India player Sandeep Singh helping the team out,things seemed to be falling into place. At least on Saturday’s evidence as India converted two out of three.

However,an area of concern for Clark’s team could be penalty shootouts. After each period,the two teams practised penalties,and England outscored India 9-7 (aggregate). This scoreline would have been more skewed if not for Sushant Tirkey’s efficiency under the bar during the second penalty shootout,where he was beaten only once out of five attempts. Harjot Singh,by contrast,was beaten eight times out of ten.

There,then,is a reason for the Indian team management not to be complacent after an otherwise flawless performance.