It hasn’t been a perfect tournament for the Indian hockey team so far at Busan and yet they can make a podium finish again. In case they do so with a win over Korea in the final today, the flaws will be swept under the carpet, but if they don’t, the team management will have to answer for their flawed tactics.Despite scraping past Pakistan in the final minutes of the semifinals, one cannot say for sure if India can come up with an encore against Korea. And keeping in mind the well-managed Korean team, who are supported by brilliant tacticians, it would be a tough asking. Unless, of course, the Indians play to their potential and keep their nerves in crucial moments.The tournament has reached the final stage and the Indians have yet to perform as a team. The mistakes and the fumbles in the danger zone continue and there were no dearth of penalty corners conceded to Pakistan in their previous match. The studious Koreans would obviously have noticed these chinks in the Indian team and hope to exploit them to the hilt.The forwardline is yet to show the kind of understanding it did at the Champions Trophy in Cologne last month. Those lethal counter-attacks in waves are conspicuous by their absence. If Dhanraj Pillay fails to play his role to perfection, the team would lose its confidence. However, the veteran star himself would be aware that he will not get as much room as he got against Pakistan to manoeuvre since the Koreans will try and hound him out. In fact, in this tournament Pillay has set goals for others and also been a prolific scorer himself. With speedy winger Prabhjot Singh injured, the Indian attack has failed to rise to its expectation. Deepak Thakur has looked a shadow of himself after his sterling performance in the Champions Trophy. However, Gagan Ajit Singh, who scored the winner against Pakistan, is gradually peaking. One hopes he retains form in the final.Predicting on the midfield and defence is an unpredictable — and equally unpleasant — task and even chief coach Rajinder Singh would wait for the final results before waxing high praises. Besides Dhanraj and skipper Dilip Tirkey in the defence, the gutsy performance of goalkeeper Devesh Chauhan in the last two matches, gives hope.But perhaps, it would do India a world of good if they go into the match as underdogs rather than with an aura of being the defending champions.
