India scored a very convincing win (5-2) and I must add that they took their chances well and created better moves in the forwardline. This is not surprising since I have said that India has the potential to be big winners and it is just that sometimes the players do not finish off the moves or asset their authority more in a game.Today they had a lot of things going for them and we knew that they will be well motivated to play after the 1-4 loss to Australia on Sunday.

We too had a tough game on Sunday against Sout Korea and that took its toll on our young players as well. But I do not want to take anything away from India. The finishing was much better and players like Gagan Ajit Singh, Arjun Halapa, Tushar Khandhar, Shivender Singh abd Tejbir Singh were moving better and creating space.They are still some areas where they need to improve especially their passes in the D. They also did not use the extra space along the flanks well enough. For me their performance coming from a big defeat is inspiring and I’m sure they can only get better.I can see that coach V. Bhaskaran has got them to take shots at goal and also to get the ball quickly into the D. This troubled us a lot.

But fitness is a little suspect and they will have build on that for the World Cup challenge. Teams like South Korea run throughout the game and will be a major threat even when you play your best.Another good aspect of the game today was also the better midfield play with V. S Vinay, Vikram Pillay and Prabodh Tirkey working very hard to stamp their mark. They did get better of us as we had a young set of midfielders. But what the three should do is to try and be consistent with their play and to keep on pushing higher so that the forwards are well complemented.

That happened today and it is good to see the team taking a much forward approach in their play. they were let down in some ways by our defence which did not get through to the passes quick enough. As I said the other day speed is essential when you want to play attacking hockey.The quicker you get the ball out of danger the better you can plan your moves. In this respect Dilip Tirkey was a steadying influence at the back and Kanwalpreet too was in good form to offer support. And of course goalkeeper Adrian D’Souza was a big asset. he has the knack of playing well against Malaysia. He stopped no less than five penalty corner attempts today.

That not only kept the team in front but also gave the defenders a big dose of confidence.I think we need to see India play with such confidence more often and they can only get better. This set of players have the talent but they need big match exposure.For me the game against Korea will be close and if India can withstand the fitter Koreans and stop their fast play then they have a good chance of winning. After all a semi-final berth is at stake.

Senior players like Gagan, Dilip, Vikram, Prabodh, Viren Rasquinha, Arjun and Kanwalpreet must tke the lead. They need to keep steady and take the pressure so that the younger plyers can perform. I can see India winning but only if they come up with a consistent performance and learn from these two matches. Otherwise the Koreans will run them ragged.