THE Indian team, which finished eighth at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics a few months ago, is today overcome with a sense of deja vu. For a side whichamong the six which participated in the Kuber 18th Champions Trophy in Chennaiwent through the least changes since Atlanta, their performance did not match expectations.To start with, coach Vasudevan Bhaskaran opted for the 4-4-2-1 pattern of play, instead of the traditional 5-3-2-1. With the new rule scrapping offside play, his argument was that, the defence would be under more pressure than before. "As such, I preferred to strengthen the mid-field with a fourth half-back who could double up as an additional forward. Of course, it meant that I had to reduce the number of forwards from the usual seven to six to accommodate the extra halfback. I felt that this would be the best approach, though I wouldnt say that we adopted a defensive posture," he said.
It also meant reworking of the overall strategy and approach, requiring one of the forwards to do off-the-ball running to create space behind the rival defence to receive the through ball. In this regard,barring Edward Aranha, none of the forwards showed tactical acumen. This shortcoming contributed to Indias failure to progress to the final.
Adding to the problems was the inconsistent performance of a few key players, notably right-winger Mukesh Kumar, centre-half M.D. Riaz and full-back Anil Aldrin. Having played in the Malaysian league in October/November, Mukesh looked out of sorts for much of the tournament; Riaz had a few bad moments, including the unheard of 38-minute yellow-card suspension against The Netherlands; and Aldrin was rather ponderous in his tackling and covering.
Meanwhile, Indias star centre-forward Dhanraj Pillai seemed more intent on forcing penalty corners on entering the circle rather than trying to put the ball in. Some of the better moments were provided by skipper and full-back Pargat Singh, who is reportedly playing his last tournament for India, and goalkeeper Ashish Ballal. Pargat was a confident and an inspiring figure at the back; so was Ballal, who produced several brilliant saves, proving yet again that he is still the best keeper in the country and it was a terrible mistake to have dropped him for the Atlanta Olympics.
Now that India are out of reckoning for the 1997 Champions Trophy in Adelaide, Australia, the seniors will be spending a year without a major international engagement. Something they needed to prepare for the Commonwealth Games, the Asian Games and the World Cup in 1998.
Perhaps the inactivity will provide them time for introspection.
