It’s not often that the Indian hockey receive such widespread praise. But after they took world champions Australia to a shootout and clinched silver at the Champions Trophy in London on June 18, their best ever performance in the tournament, congratulations poured in from all quarters.
Erstwhile great Dhanraj Pillay marvelled at the team’s achievement, saying, “Even when I was playing, I don’t think we played that consistent level of hockey for 60 minutes.” Indian cricket’s current batting mainstay Virat Kohli congratulated the team for their spirited performance. And even Prime Minister Narendra Modi joined in with an appreciative tweet.
But despite his satisfaction with the achievement, head coach Roelant Oltmans called for more. “The level we played in Champions Trophy will not be enough for the Olympics if we are vying for a medal,” opined the Dutchman.
India will kick off their last tournament before the all-important Olympics on Monday in Valencia against Germany as they play the first match of the Six Nations Tournament. And as the race to Rio enters its final lap, here are the final few chinks the coach will be looking to sort out:
What’s the final team?
In a sign of maturity, Oltmans has been rotating his team and trying out new players. And what has been heartening is that the younger players have stepped up. India rested its influential captain Sardar Singh, drag-flicker Rupinder Pal Singh and striker Ramandeep Singh for the Champions Trophy. They were also without the services of the veteran Biren Lakra who was out due to injury.
But players like SV Sunil, Harmanpreet Singh, Mandeep Singh and Devindar Walmiki ensured that the absence of the senior players was not felt. Sardar Singh, Rupiner Pal Singh and Lakra will return for the Six Nations tournament. This will be Oltmans’ final chance to figure out what his starting team for the Olympics will be. Does he reward the youngsters or does he go back to the veterans? In any case, it’s a problem of plenty and Oltmans will be quite happy that he has a wide pool to choose from.
Superman PR Sreejesh
That India won a silver medal at the Champions Trophy was largely due to the performances of their stand-in skipper PR Sreejesh. Match after match, Sreejesh would pull off the most impossible of saves, making them look almost ridiculously routine. In the final against Australia, he single-handedly kept the world champions out and took the game to the shootout. Of course, Australia prevailed there but there’s only so much he can do.
And therein lies another lesson for the team to learn. Sreejesh is magnificent, he is outstanding and he is probably the best goal-keeper in the world currently. But India needs to stop counting on him all the time and relieve the pressure on him.
Do their scouting properly
This Six Nations tournament does not just give the team a chance to conduct their final experiments but it also provides a good opportunity of sizing up their opponents. India will play Germany, Argentina and Ireland in the tournament and since these three teams are part of their group at Rio as well, it’s the perfect opportunity to identify the weaknesses in these three teams ahead of the Olympics.
The game against Germany will be the most important. Germany are the defending Olympic champions but they drew against India in the Champions Trophy, after being down 3-1. India will need to keep the momentum high before they clash in the Olympics.
Argentina have proved to be a thorn in the flesh for India, having defeated them on two occasions at the 2014 Champions Trophy and a World Hockey League match in 2015. Ireland, ranked 12 in the world are also in the mix and India will get an early look at them before the Games.
Keep the confidence high
It’s still early but Indian hockey is in a good place, after a long, long time. The confidence is sky-high – the victories are coming, the team looks settled and the coach has several exciting players to choose from. It’s essential that the momentum is not allowed to dissipate. Several times earlier, Indian hockey teams have approached the Olympics on a surge of optimism, only to disappoint at the last stage. For the good of Indian hockey and its long-suffering fans, Roelant Oltmans and Sardar Singh must ensure it doesn’t happen again.
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