K. ARUMUGAM

Harmanpreet led India faces a mighty task of playing a five-match series against traditional tormentors Australia, that too on their soils. The first encounter starts today at Adelaide. A good build up has been made, inter alia, what with a new trophy being unveiled. Indian team has landed at the venue a week ahead, indicating perhaps the degree of seriousness the visitors attach to the bilateral series. With a new ranking system getting points, such Series are becoming a serious ones as against mere academic, coach oriented, experimental stuff. It’s a welcome scenario.

Besides ranking points, the seriousness of India is understandable. India hosts the World Cup in two-month’s time. Being third time host in the last 12 years, having failed in the previous two editions, the hosts is under pressure for sure — to live up the expectations.

There is no better platform than engaging a tough outfit in preparation for the home World Cup, and let the Indian team redeem itself. The Series therefore is a well thought out and much needed one.

Australia has always been a buzzle for India which India has been unable to solve. I have left out grass-era to say what I said above.

Even in the 80s and 90s, when Indian hockey’s fortune started plummeting, it was giving close fights to all major powers of the day like Germany, England, The Netherlands etc. There were times, these teams were beaten too in invitational tournaments if not in the FIH events. However, one team that has been the exception to this chequerred past is undoubtedly Australia. They were handing out India humiliating defeats.

(l-r): Graham Reid, Harmanpreet, Eddie Ockenden & Colin Batch.                                  Pic: Hockey India

One need not sweat it out with numbers to vouchsafe the view. Birmingham Commonwealth Games final and before that Tokyo Olympics stare at our face.

However, what is ray of hope in the dark scenario is the finals of the last two Champions Trophy.

Before and after Rio Olympics, Australians had only scrapped through for the title, their goalkeepers doing better in the shoot outs.

India, separated from their mighty rivals by just 2,3 rungs in the FIH ranking, need to make us satisfied they are just indeed so. Because, as mentioned above Tokyo and Birmingham results are despite Champions Trophy shows, despite narrow difference in the global ranking.

So, it doesn’t appear India is so close to Australia on vital tournaments. How could Australians so easily put into smithereens?

This is the puzzle.

India needs to demonstrate that they understood the intricacies that lace the long survived puzzle.

With an Australian at the helm, India has the advantage to understand and solve it.

One conspicuous grey area for India in the context of Australian contests is that their forwards are less sharper and lack opportunism in the circle. This may be a combination of everything their formidable rival do on the field, speed, perfection and the ability to switch positions and change gears on demand — and on will — to kill a game.

India, as per the tradition followed in the current decade, selected more midfielders and defenders than forwards. The thought behind it is the forwards are only the finishers but what make them strikers are the roles by the midfield, and the safety the defenders would provide.

With often the midfielders like Hardik Singh, Manpreet Singh and Vivek Sagar Prasad (who is not in the team now) proving to be as good strikers as that of any forwards, say Gurjant Singh, Mandeep Singh the likes, such thought gets credence.

Since 2010, India and Australia have played bilateral Series four times: 4 matches in 2014, 3 in 2015, 2 in 2016, 2 in 2019. The present one comes after exactly three years and the biggest one. India have won the 2014 Series with 3 wins and defeat, 2015 & 2016 were 1-1 draws, while it lost the 2019 number 0-2. 

India Vs Australia

Match 1 – Saturday 26 November (1100hrs IST)
Match 2 – Sunday 27 November (1100hrs IST)
Match 3 – Wednesday 30 November (1330 hrs IST)
Match 4 – Saturday 3 December (1100hrs IST)
Match 5 – Sunday 4 December (1100hrs IST)