CWG 2018 Hockey: Controversy apart, Manpreet and Co need to take the blame for draw against Pakistan

The last seven seconds during Indian hockey team’s Commonwealth Games opener against arch-rivals Pakistan created enough drama and a controversy that threatened to overshadow what happened in the remaining 59 minutes and 52 seconds.

There can be a debate over whether the video umpire was right in awarding Pakistan back-to-back penalty corners in the dying minutes with even the commentators suggesting that there was little evidence to prove a foul by Indian defenders to merit those big decisions. The second one cost India two points as Ali Mubashar found the equaliser with the last hit of the match.

(Additional reading: Catch up on all the action from day three for India here)

But there can be no debate on the fact that it was the Indian team that brought upon this finish on themselves with a mindless display of hockey that was in sharp contrast to the way they started the match and controlled the proceedings for the majority of the first half.

India had gone into the match as run-away favourites having beaten the arch rivals in their last seven meetings and the form book clearly hinting against a Pakistani challenge.

And the way the first half developed, it looked like the Manpreet Singh-led side would have a cakewalk if they could maintain the tempo and keep their structure.

Dilpreet Singh put India ahead in the 13th minute, finishing off a very good move from the right flank but the talk from Pakistan coach Roelant Oltmans, who worked with the Indian team for a long time, during the break after the first quarter clearly gave an impression that the game plan was to build pressure on the Indian team from both flanks and the Dutchman was confident that the pressure would build on the Indians.

And their opportunity came soon after India scored their second goal in the 20th minute.

Tale of two halves

The goal was followed by a period sustain pressure from the Pakistanis as it looked like the Indian team had suddenly taken their foot off the accelerator and were playing for half time.

The midfield lost the ball far too many times in their own half and if one expected a correction in their approach after the break, that never happened.

Instead, the players looked more interested in launching individual attacks at the Pakistan goal, probably looking to play to the gallery.

It was one such attack from SV Sunil that opened the gates for Pakistan to find their opening goal as he lost the ball in the opposition half and even before the Indian team could track back Muhammad Dilber launched a counter before passing the ball in the striking circle. All Muhammad Irfan Jr had to do was to find a good enough deflection to the ball hit across the goal mouth.

Sreejesh saves the day

More than the goal, what was more disappointing to watch was that the Indian team learnt little from the set back. And had it not been for PR Sreejesh’s wonderful work under the bar, India could have even suffered a humiliating defeat.

Twice in the fourth quarter, Sreejesh found himself facing a one-on-one situation against a Pakistan forward and both times he stood tall to avert the danger.

India reacted immediately and Kothajit Singh had a chance to increase the lead two minutes later but Pakistan goalkeeper Imran Butt was alert to the occasion.

Since then it was all Pakistan and it definitely did not help the Indian cause when Kothajit received an yellow card at the end of the third quarter. That reduced India to 10 men for the first five minutes of the final quarter and allowed Pakistan to build the pressure.

No energy, no cohesion

However, that still cannot explain the absence of a single shot on Pakistan goal for the last 20 minutes or an attempt to win a penalty corner since the first three minutes into the second half.

There was no cohesion between the midfield and attack, with skipper Manpreet Singh guilty of mis-passing on at least half a dozen times while for reasons best known to them, there wasn’t enough tracking back by the forwards to help the midfield when the ball was mostly played in the Indian half.

All could have been forgotten if Mandeep Singh had found the back of the net two minutes from the final hooter when Akashdeep Singh released him on the left side of the striking circle. The 23-year-old striker had Akashdeep and Sunil inside the box to finish the move but went for an expansive reverse hit from acute angle and spared it wide.

And then everything turned on its head with the two controversial decisions.

To his credit, coach Sjoerd Marijne wasn’t willing to use the video referrals as an excuse and admitted that the team wasn’t up to the mark.

“Today, I didn’t recognise the team I have been coaching for the last five months. This happened once in the HWL Final against Germany where the level was low, and there were strange decisions. And that’s also what you saw today,” said the Dutchman.

Marijne insisted that he wanted to hear from the players as to what went wrong and why they could not stick to the game plan before taking any decision on what needs to be changed ahead of the second group encounter against Wales on Sunday.

The Dutchman’s coaching philosophy has always been about giving the players the freedom to take decisions and express themselves on the field and he insists that he wasn’t going to re-consider that due to one bad game.

But the onus is on the players, who have plenty to reconsider about their overall approach and attitude if they want to comeback stronger just over 24 hours after suffering such an unexpected meltdown.