K ARUMUGAM

Goalkeeper Krishan Pathak turned out to be a double thorn in the flesh of fighting Spain, first in the regulation time and then in the shootout, as India garners two points in the repeat match of the FIH Pro League’s first mini tournament. Helped by a brace of goal from ever-reliable Harmanpreet Singh, India led the visitors 2-0 till 42nd minute. Till then the Indian defence, seemingly casual in conceding penalty corners, managed to block six of them but the seventh one in the 42nd minute reduced the margin. As the match was meandering to a draw, a close-range shot saw the ball hitting Indian defender Jugraj Singh’ foot and slip into the cage. India won the shootout 3-1 after Krishan Pathak stopped first two shots of Spain. However, both coaches, Graham Reid and Max Caldas, will ponder over their team’s show today, as there were plenty of no show from their wards.

Rajkumar Pal Scoring in the Shoot out

Two features marked the Indian game today – cards and PCs. That India conceded 14 penalty corners, six in the last quarter, must worry the Indian chief coach. At the same time, ‘how did we miss all but one’ should rankle his rival on the other side.

At least four penalty corners that India conceded can be categorized as soft, so to say. Often when  Indian defender stretches their stick to stop the ball inside the circle close to backline, it got bounced out of play. There were no clear intentional, deliberate attempt to send the ball out of play. But physically the ball went out. Academic as it was, the umpires showed the sign for PCs. Couple of times Indian captain Harmanpreet Singh was furious and pleaded with the umpires too in vain. India even lost the referral on this count when countered the umpire decision to award the 8th PC

On the other hand, India got two yellow card suspensions and three green cards, compared to a mere single green by their rivals, who were not necessarily gentlemen on the turf! They were brusque and physical too.

India PC defence was superb today

Another worry for the Indians is the sudden absence of field goals. Forwards were seen misfiring. True a Sukhjeet’s reverse would have landed inside the cage on any day, but not today. However, the same Indians who fired seven goals only 48 hours before New Zealand (7-4) were seen struggling today. As a result, India has got just three penalty corners all in the first half of which Harmanpreet Singh fetched two goals (12th and 32nd minutes).

New Zealand got its first goal when India was down with a player, Sumit.

When Spain got its 12th PC with just 79 seconds left in the clock it was expected to strike, but Krishan’s stick, rising and ramrod, saw it swept away.

In the shoot out, Harmanpreet Singh and RK Pal scored in succession, while Shamer Singh’s shoot did not survive a referral for a reverse stick. Then when Abhishek struck, the next coming Spaniard hit it wide to the mild celebration of the hosts.

Next international on the Kalinga turf will be World Cup on 13th Jan.