We have the world’s best made-field, says Baskaran

Q: How did the camps go?

A:The two camps, both of long duration in Bangalore, were excellent. They helped consolidate the gains of the four tournaments we played in Spain, Kuala Lumpur (Asia Cup), Sydney and Perth.

The grey areas of each player in these tournaments were assessed and analysed. The boys have drawn a lot of confidence from these camps.

A lot of time was spent off the ground with video sessions, psychology sessions and physical endurance tests. The boys were given methods to improve in each department.

Q: Where was the emphasis at the camps?

A: It was on deep defenders. Not to commit mistakes too early in the game. That was our main problem during the 28 matches in the four tournaments.

Also, emphasis was laid on not giving away penalty corners under pressure. The boys were put in real match situations and their mistakes rectified.

In the mid-field we have worked out drills of Thirumalvalavan-Baljit Saini and Mohd. Riaz interchanging the centre-half position, with the others playing as linkmen.

And in the attack we have worked out sessions in the whole forward-line moving in rather than depending on (Dhanraj) Pillay, (Baljit) Dhillon or Mukesh (Kumar) alone to do all the moves.

We have worked a lot of improvement in these areas and hopefully these things will take a final shape in Brisbane. (The Indian team is scheduled to train in Muruguwambillah near Brisbane from the third week of August till they move into the Olympic village on Sept 8).

Q: What of penalty corners?

A: We don’t have World class specialists in this department. But we have scored some good goals. Performance against good goalkeepers will be the yard stick, though. Dilip (Tirkey) and (Lazarus) Barla have impressed at the training. Our showing in penalty corners will be better.

Q: What is your assessment of each team in our group?

A: We have played all of them before with varied performances, with varied results. Everything depends on minimising mistakes.

ARGENTINA: This is the most important match in our schedule. This is our first match and they have surprised us in crucial matches on earlier occasions. They adopt football-like tactics, but with minimum mistakes we can start on a winning note. That would be a morale-booster.

AUSTRALIA: The strongest team in our group. On home turf, they are the hot favourites. We have played Australia often and thus are aware of each other’s strengths and weaknesses. We have a couple of surprises for them, though.

SOUTH KOREA: We beat them in the Asian Games. We lost narrowly at the World Cup and Asia Cup. Quick passing, swift counter attacks are Koreans’ forte. Our boys have been trained to counter the Korean flair.

SPAIN: We played them last in January (India lost 3-5). We had just begun our preparations and they were a full side then. Their style is a casual one. But they commit very few mistakes. We should not get frustrated if we don’t get goals. We should have patience.

POLAND: I am not taking them lightly. They have had a couple of good results in the qualifiers (at Osaka). They have come through the hard way. I don’t expect the Poles to attack. We should get some early goals and build on them.

Q: What are the strengths and weaknesses of our team?

A: Whatever I call weakness has been worked upon and the improvement has been tremendous.

Our strength lies in the attacking hockey the boys believe in. Our mid-field is certainly one of the best in the World. Our forward-line has the perfect blend of youth and experience.

The greater advantage of this team is the competitive spirit of the boys. Although there are 24 players right now, each one knows he is as good as the other. It will be a tough job finalising the team as we have many good players for each position. This is a coach’s dream.

Our weakness was crumbling under pressure. There have been times when we went ahead and subsequently allowed our rivals to bounce back. Letting in early goals has also been our bane in many matches. But these have now been sorted out.

Q: Finally, the obvious question. What are our chances at the Olympics?

A: Every coach expects to bring out a good performance. The most important thing is to qualify for the semi-finals. Our chances are very bright. One thing I am sure is we will do better than at the last Olympics. (India finished eighth at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics).