This team is gradually, very faintly beginning to look like a team

When India beat New Zealand 4-2 for their second win in as many games in the Champions Trophy on Sunday, it was not just another victory. The result would make more sense, and gain a lot more importance, when it is put into some perspective:

For one, India are participating in the competition after seven years. They last played in the 2005 edition, where they qualified by virtue of being hosts and not because of merit. This time too, they are in because the pool has been widened from six to eight teams, and India are one of the wildcard entries, the lowest-ranked team, having finished last at the London Olympics. As such, the performance of the Indian team is more a measure of their mental strength than any reflection on their skills.

Secondly, this was the first time, in a decade, that India has won back-to-back games in a major tournament (by which I mean the World Cup, Olympics and the Champions Trophy). The last time this happened was at the 2002 Champions Trophy, when India beat Australia and Pakistan on successive days (by an identical margin of 3-2). Interestingly, like this time, that was also a team full of youngsters, players who had just graduated from junior to the senior ranks.

That was a talented group which, if properly nurtured, could have gone on to become world beaters in a few years. Instead, the entire team fell apart due to administrative mismanagement, officials’ egos and general apathy to the sport. One hopes this time, the mistakes are not repeated.

Thirdly, it is the general reaction of cynics to credit weak opposition for an Indian win than the players’ efforts. It may be true that almost all the top hockey teams in the world begin a rebuilding process after every Olympics, and so there are a few youngsters in every side. But, going by that logic, the Indians are the worst off! Not only is the Indian team coming in with the psychological scars of being last at the Olympics, without a single win there, but also without most of the experienced players. In fact, other than captain Sardar Singh, no other player has been a regular part of the team for a long time. So, credit to the team where it is due.

Fourthly, it would be foolish to mark this as the next big revival of Indian hockey. The sport has seen too many false dawns to fall for it all over again, and in Michael Nobbs, have an Australian in charge who knows there is a long way to go before this team can consistently challenge the best in the business. But there is no denying the effort being put into the games. Most importantly, the two games so far have seen the Indians curb their natural penchant for flair for a more grounded approach, the use of aerial balls not haphazardly but only to get out of impossibly tight corners and the defence backing up the efforts upfront.

Also, for once, there appears a method behind the madness of Indian team, and with almost every player in the squad still trying to cement his place, there are no bruised egos when a player is required to pass on to someone else, instead of scoring it himself. This team is gradually, very faintly beginning to look like a team (Jose Brasa, to his credit, managed to do the same with a bunch of established stars but he rubbed the administrators the wrong way; Nobbs, on the other hand, knows how to stay on the right side of the powers-that-be).