Rotation is the key for India

By Chander Shekhar Luthra | Place: New Delhi

FIH umpire John Wright has some good news for the Indian hockey fans. He has been following the Indian team closely for the last four years — more precisely, since June 9, 2008 when India lost to England 2-0 in Chile’s Santiago city and failed to qualify for the Olympics for the first time in 80 years. Wright has been genuinely impressed by the team’s speed and fitness in the current tournament and rates them favourites for the Sunday’s final.

“Australia dominated the world of hockey for so long because of their players’ fitness, especially the upper body. And this Indian team is close to somewhere there,” observed Wright. “In Chile, Indian players ran out of steam in the second half. But this bunch is playing with equal intensity for the entire 70 minutes. It has surprised me.”

He predicts an easy match for India in the final against France. “The final should be an easy affair for India. But then this is not their actual test. They will only be tested once they reach London,” said the South African.

Wright also has praises for coach Michael Nobbs for using the rotation method in the most effective manner than ever before. From Nobbs’s perspective too, rotation is the demand of the game in modern hockey. He is using this effectively during the tournament.

In the match against France, Nobbs rotated players for as many as 38 times (21 in the first half and 17 in the second). “Rotating players is the key to our success,” Nobbs later said. Drag flicker Sandeep Singh also feels it’s impossible to survive in modern hockey without rotation.

“We have been giving everything that we have for the time we are in and then we come out and refuel our energy again. This rotation is the key to success in modern hockey,” acknowledged Sandeep.

Nobbs has devised a time-frame for each position. If forward and defence line have been given five-minute stints in the middle then midfielders get a little more, seven minutes, time to spend inside ground at one go. Though, things do keep changing as per the situation.

It would be interesting to see how Nobbs again uses the rotation method on Sunday, but he has already cautioned the French side to be wary of this Indian team.

“We will go all out in the final,” announced Nobbs, who has always been insisting that the hosts have been playing much below their potential.

Be wary, France! India are out to prove that they belong to the top league!