Perth: We are finally in Australia. Starting from Wednesday, we will be playing eight matches in the span of 12 days. Four matches here at Perth in five days and then, four matches at Sydney with t a gap of 3 days between the two legs. It is going to be taxing – it will sap our players’ energy and test their toughness.
Of course this is true of every other team in the fray. And thus, I consider this double-leg 4-team format, which the Australians have put in place since 1996, ideal for team preparation.
In terms of number of matches, it matches a World Cup or Olympic format. In other way, each team will play the other two teams thrice, with a possibility of fourth meeting with the one rival not ruled out. This sounds like a Test series
If the finalists are going to be the same in Perth and Sydney, which is quite a possibility, then they would be facing each other the fourth time. Since Australia `A’ is forbidden from playing the finals, the rest of the teams – India, Pakistan and Australia – stand a good chance in this respect. This is of course a projection — no one knows for sure what will happen on the field. Are we going to meet Pakistan four times here? My guess is as good as yours. Anyway, the prospects excites me and also my team.
The format offers the characteristics of both, a Test series and a tournament. In Test series, players and coaches get time to test the rival and adjust accordingly for the next game. The learning and unlearning becomes a continuous process. Contrarily this opportunity does not exist in a Tournament situation. You play a game then forget it before getting ready to face the next opponent. Here, the rivals come in succession, not repeatedly as the case in a Test series.
Australia has always been special for me. Not only did my team win the Junior World Cup here in 2001, but my stint with the seniors also started here last year.
In the aftermath of Kuala Lumpur World Cup, I took an young team — Senior World Cup drop outs and Junior World Cup heroes — for the same double leg, 4-Nation tournament. Seniors like Dhanraj Pillay, Jude Menezes and Baljit Dhillon were not there.
It did not turn out to be memorable outing for us, but we learnt our lessons. Australia outplayed us all the three times on that occasion, but we turned the table against them within couple of months where it counted – in the Champions Trophy at Cologne. Our Cologne victory came after four successive loses to Aussies — three in their home, one at Rabobank 4-Nation Cup before the Champions Trophy.
This is the point. And once again our focus is not the tournament but the 2004 Olympics. We are looking at Athens. We are building a team for the Olympics. We have given opportunity to all players we considered deserving. Against the world trend, we have recalled seniors. Many ask me why Dhillon, why Saini. I ask them why not Dhillon, why not Saini. They never played under me, and I want to see for myself where they stand as of now.
Dhanraj proved age is no criteria for a good player, but fitness is. Whether other seniors like Dhillon, Saini, Mukesh will show Dhanraj’s resilence remains to be seen.
There cannot be a better platform to assess player’s fitness than this tournament where eight matches will be played in 12 days.
Syndicated by Hockey Features
Sponsored by Punjab National Bank