India has achieved its target of a podium finish. And its was a great performance considering that they came back from a goal down to beat New Zealand 3-2. But there is a lot of room for improvement. The Indians have done well in this tournament as they fought hard and more often their fighting spirit was there although at times they were out played.But they can only get better with each match. They need high level match exposure so that they can try out their ideas and also to gauge their strenght against the better teams. Yesterday against the Kiwis the Indians played with four forwards and just two defenders. The forward line with Hari Prasad, Arjun Halappa, Shivender Singh and Gagan Ajit Singh and Tejbir Singh coming in time and again was effective. But talking to coach V. Bhaskaran yesterday it is obvious he is not happy with their finishing.

He said the finishing has to improve drastically before the World Cup for the team to be effective. I have to agree with that as the forwards missed with numerous chances that could have altered the scoreline in the matches.This is not a just a problem with India but also Pakistan and Malaysia.It is not as we do not have the chances in front of the goal. But we all need a clinical finishing that will make a difference in close match-ups. And then we also need to be able to hold our own when in the lead so that we can capaitlaise on it. More often teams lie India, malaysia and to some level pakistan tend to lose concentration at some point and that is when the matches turn and the opponents take charge.

Yesterday the defence with Dilip Tirkey stood out well and goalkeeper Adrian De Souza had regained his confidence level and kept Bharat Chetri out of the line up.It is good that India can bank on two good keeps who are well adjusted to the top level matches. They will do well in the World Cup. Adrians after coming in for Chetri in the second match improved with each game and has established himself as the number one now. Dilip told me that this tournamwnt has been a good outing for Adrian as he is now more confidence and is able to play at a high level. Dilip also feels that this display from Adrian had given the defenders greater confidence and they are able to face their opponents knowing that their last line of defence is in good hands.

Overall I have said that the midfield needs to release the ball faster and it was no different yesterday. But with more matches Viren Rasquiha, Vikram Pillay and Prabjot Tirkey will improve. And then there is still Ignatius back home who is a good forward playing midfielder. So overall there is good talen in the Indian line up and if all these players are fit and ready for the World Cup then I’m sure they will finish in a high position. What they do in the next two months to prepare themselves is important. Yesterday new Zealand did not have their injured skipper Ryan Archibald and that made some difference. But let us not take anything away from India in the win yesterday. It was a great show and let us hope we see more of it in the coming months. I’m sure they will be back next year and perhaps go one better and make the final at least.