Times of India: HIL priority cost us dearly
MUMBAI: When a fancied team littered with a legion of stars is at the receiving end, tongues are bound to wag. The Indian Oil Corporation Limited (IOCL) outfit had a lot of questions but few answers after their shocking 3-1 defeat against Punjab National Bank in the semi-finals of the 51st edition of the Bombay Gold Cup hockey tournament being played at the Mumbai Hockey Association Limited’s (MHAL) Churchgate facility on Tuesday.
IOCL, which boasted the likes of Olympians Prabhjot Singh, Devesh Chauhan, skipper Deepak Thakur, drag-flick specialist VR Raghunath and a few internationals, conceded three goals in the first half itself. It pretty much sealed the fate of the match.
IOCL did press the pedal after the change of ends but their gameplan of utilising Raghunath’s expertise to their advantage backfired.
“Our plan was to press for short corners and hope that Raghu scores. But of the 10-odd short corners that we earned, only one could be successfully converted. When you have a player of Raghu’s stature and ability, a low rate of conversion (short corners) is not acceptable,” skipper Thakur told TOI after the match.
The former India star, also felt that some of the players didn’t give their hundred percent in order to stay fit for the upcoming Hockey India League (HIL).
“They (Punjab National Bank) gave their best effort. That was sadly not the case with us. With the Hockey India League coming up, players tend to play safe and don’t necessarily give their best. Probably that was the difference between the teams today,” he observed.
Meanwhile, in a match played earlier in the afternoon, South Central Railway drubbed Comptroller and Audit General (CAG) 6-1. CAG lost skipper Nithin Thimmaiah to a red card for questioning an umpiring decision in the 12th minute of the match and had to play with ten men thereafter. The former international kept arguing with the umpire after receiving the green card which was followed by a yellow. The umpire was left with no other option but to expel Thimmaiah for dissent.
“I think it could have been overlooked,” CAG coach Clarence Lobo said later.
RESULTS (semifinals): South Central Railway, Secunderabad 6 (Raju Pal 2nd, 10th, PR Ayappa 34th, 39th, 43rd, 61st) beat CAG 1(Chandan Singh 51st).Punjab National Bank (Gagandeetp Singh Jr 9th, 29th, Arjun Singh 31st) beat Indian Oil, Mumbai (VR Raghunath 41st).