India need big win against Scotland to keep alive medal hopes
Drubbed by Australia 2-5 in their previous encounter, a demoralised India will have to get their acts together and win by a big margin against a lowly Scotland if they hope to keep their maiden medal chances alive in the men’s hockey event at the Commonwealth Games here on Saturday.
India’s campaign so far in the tournament has been a scratchy affair as after scampering home against a spirited Malaysia 3-2 in their opener, the home team was handed out a reality check by the mighty Australians last night.
And if the Rajpal Singh-led side desires to register its maiden Commonwealth Games medal here, they cannot settle for anything less than a victory against Scotland as a tougher customer in Pakistan awaits them in their final Pool A match.
World champions Australia and Pakistan are in a comfortable position in Pool A after registering wins in their first pool two matches.
The Kookaburras, however, lead the charge as the they have a better goal difference than Pakistan but the equation is slated to change tomorrow as both the teams face each other in another Pool A match.
But going into tomorrow’s match, the Indians will have only one thing in mind — victory by a big margin — as it will help them in case they are tied up with Pakistan on same points after Australia is more or less secured of a place in the semis.
However, to achieve that, the Indians first will have to pull up their socks and rectify the mistakes they have committed in the opening two matches.
Defence is one area which continues to remain a perennial problem for Jose Brasa’s boys as in both the matches –against Malaysia and Australia — they conceded soft goals which could have been avoided and Brasa was, understandably, livid with his back line.
“We conceded two very stupid goals early on, in fact we gifted our opponents the first three goals,” the India coach said.
If the backline is a concern for Brasa, what is worrying the Spaniard more is India’s poor penalty corner conversion in match situations.
Against Australia, the Indians earned as many as six short corners but converted only one through star drag-flicker Sandeep Singh that too in the fag end of the match.
“We are the top side in the world when it comes to scoring on penalty corners in practice but in match situation we are the worst,” Brasa lamented.
On individual front, young Dharamvir Singh has been impressive upfront while veteran Arjun Halappa and Bharat Chikkara, as always, displayed tireless hockey in the midfield.
Striker Tushar Khandkar and goalkeeper Bharat Chetri too need to raise their level of performance as they have been far from impressive in the opening two games.
Scotland, on the other hand, came into the Games without any expectation and will be eyeing to spoil the home team’s party in their own backyard.
After two comprehensive defeats, the Scots will be desperate to better their performance against India and pull off a surprise win, which will do wonders for the game back home.