Poor Trapping Bane Of India

The 1-1 result meant the India-Pakistan hockey seriesis still alive, though the quality of hockey displayed at the Sector 42 stadiumwas only marginally better than the one shown in Delhi two days earlier.

But by far the most heartening thing was that thehockey fans of Chandigarh came out in huge numbers to see the match. The stadiumshould actually seat only about 22,000-24,000 people, but I believe there wereprobably close to 27,000-28,000. And many were left standing out, as the gateswere closed way before the match began.

The weather was once again a dampner and we need toquestion once again, why the matches are being held at 1.30 in the afternoon.Surely, it is important to think about the comfort of the players, too. Add tothis, the schedule is so tight that there is no time for recovery. There is justone day in between the games and that is spent in travelling.

Also, I cannot understand why Hyderabad had to be thelast match. Could it not have been the first and then the series could havemoved to the north with the next match in Delhi and then Chandigarh and finallyAmritsar, which is a stone's throw from Pakistan. Now, imagine these teams willneed to travel from Amritsar to Hyderabad for the last game and then back home.

For the players to produce good hockey, it is importantto give them good conditions, too.

India may have kept the series alive, but they now needto win both the remaining games to level this Dosti Series. There were moreattacks from either side, but the way these teams miss chances that come theirway, European sides will overrun them, which has been the case in recent times.I cannot understand, how they can waste so many penalty corners.

The Indians may have done well to hold the Pakistanisin the absence of skipper Dilip Tirkey, as Viren Rasquinha did duty as a defenderand skipper. But the big disappointment was the forward line. Sandeep Michael,Vivek Gupta and others are missing too many chances.

An unpardonable error at this level is the kind oftrapping the Indian boys have been showing. It has been poor and they havesimply not been able to keep possession and lose the ball too easily.

The defence did a good job. The midfield can definitelyshow more method in their feeding.

The Pakistanis have claimed they have been indulging insome experiments. Probably they have the Champions Trophy in mind and coachRoelant Oltmans is rightly working towards it. But frankly, even the Pakistanifront line has not been aggressive or on-target as we have seen in the past.Even their seasoned forwards are missing chances. Players like Rehan Butt,Shakeel Abbasi and others are generally more accurate than what they are showingright now.

Maybe it is fatigue, timing of the matches and theenergy-sapping weather.

Ignace Tirkey had the best game. He was rightly awardedthe man of the match trophy and the cash that goes with it. Ignace has floweredin the last few months. I only hope this progress continues and does not falloff like it has in the case of many others.

One must also give credit to Viren, for adaptingwonderfully as a defender. He is a thinking player and is really good for theteam.

As for match tactics, the Indians could have donebetter by exploiting their left flank which was often been left open. They didtry a few times in the second half but were not penetrative enough in theirefforts.

Sohail Abbas failed to make the world record his own,as he missed quite a few penalty corners. Though their only goal of the matchcame from a penalty corner, it was off an indirect effort, which Ghazanfarscored. So, Sohail will have to wait further to try and get the world record forgoals.

With two more games left, India will need to put in alittle more effort and try and win the games to level the series. Even a drawwill not do any more, it has to be a win in both games. Though the Indians havenot played to their potential, winning both games is not beyond them, simplybecause even the Pakistanis, despite their lead in the series, are not reallyoverwhelming.

PTI