Hockey World Cup: Australia hand India 5-2 thrashing

New Delhi: There was no victory lap for the Indians. Only a ‘cooling down’ process that gave them time to come to terms with the reality of a 2-5 drubbing at the hands of the Australians, apart from the primary purpose of getting over the fatigue of a tough match.

The enthusiasm of the crowds and the flair of the Indian players were not enough to contain the favourites, who are looking for their second World Cup title after having lost in the finals to Germany in the previous two editions.

The national anthem was sung by virtually the full crowd of around 15,000 people before the match, but it were Australia who found the rhythm straight away. The Aussies, stung with a shock loss to England, simply turned the guns on the Indians and fired away.
India were outpaced in the field and struggled with the basics, and but for two fine opportunities created by the wily Arjun Halappa, were largely out of ideas.

Coached by the reputed Ric Charlesworth, who also had a bitter experience as a consultant with India, Australia dominated the first-half so much, that a comeback was always unlikely.

India were at their wits’ end in the first half, wondering whether to attack or defend. But for a superb goal from Vikram Pillay, who got hold of, turned around and then scooped in off a crisp cross from the extreme right by Halappa, it had been a forgettable session for the home side.

The half-time was taken at 3-1, three superb goals from Australia knocking the stuffing out of the Indians. “The early goal that we conceded proved decisive. We could never come back after that and were simply outplayed in terms of speed and stamina. But I thought we missed Shivendra Singh upfront,” said India coach Jose Brasa.

The first goal that Brasa referred to was from Liam De Young, who shot in off a rebound from the framework in the third minute. But the two goals to follow actually exhibited the athleticism of the Aussies.

In the eighth minute, Glenn Turner dived to get his stick off a penalty-corner, while Desmond Abbott made a similar acrobatic effort following a move in tandem from the left between Grant Schubert and Robert Hammond.

India’s goal at the stroke of half-time was a breather for the enthusiastic crowd that had come hoping to see an encore after a 4-1 victory over Pakistan on the opening day. But what followed was further torment for goalkeeper Adrian D’Souza, who made his return after Sreejesh was preferred over him in the firstmatch.

Like Doerner scored off a penalty-corner, while Turner knocked in his second goal to make it 5-1. For India, Halappa once again created an opportunity when he wove into the circle from the right and put captain Rajpal Singh in a position to complete an impressive move culminating in a goal that completed the scoreline at 5-2. India did launch more attacks in the second half, but it were Australia who actually had the best opportunities, including a missed ‘stroke’ in the dying minutes.

Record TRP for Indo-Pak game:

The India-Pakistan match attracted a record number of audience in the country, generating viewing figures akin to that of an ODI. The match gained an audience share of 8.9 on Doordarshan (TVR = 1.8) and 1.3 on Ten Sports. By way of a benchmark, cricket’s TVR on Doordarshan for the four ODIs between India and Sri Lanka in December last year ranged from 1.1 to 2.3, averaging 1.85.