Sandeep sizzles, India win battle of drag-flickers

Shivani Naik

Contemporary Brazilian football knows a thing or two about beauty’s ugly side — the doomed, daunting, dark shadow it casts on its successors.

Current Indian and Pakistani hockey sides too are condemned to suffer the same fate— constant comparisons with dazzling dribbles of the past, inescapable clucking of the tongues looking for the wizard’s stick-work. And wistful narrations of the legendary past when skill trumped strength and the grass was for real.

Saturday’s India-Pakistan match at the Asian Games was what you’d describe as scratch— abrasive on the eye since you searched and kept searching every corner for that flash of brilliance that could form the opening lines of this article.

What you got was a decisive 3-2 result in India’s favour — taking them into the Asian Games semifinal, snatched rather than silkily stolen from Pakistan’s grasp. But with the sport in dire need of resuscitation, hockey will gladly allow for the end to justify the means — India’s tight defence against short-corners deserving to play the starring role, even as three goals came in second.

Of course, Sandeep Singh clinically converted twice on either side of a Dharamvir Singh nifty strike for the winners, but it was the Indians’ successful ploy in thwarting Pakistan’s PC specialist Sohail Abbas, recalled especially for the tournament, that frustrated their arch-rivals into botching half-a-dozen chances that came their way.

“The plan was for the defence to not concede corners, and we succeeded in that. The one we gave away, Bharat Chetri stopped it very high brilliantly,” coach Jose Brasa said, adding that defensive lapses such as those glaring bloopers, which led to the two Pakistani goals tended to happen in tense India-Pakistan encounters such as this one.

“Overall I’d say I’m satisfied with what our defence didn’t let in,” he said.

The match had hit the high notes in the very third minute when Sandeep Singh took India 1-0 up from a penalty corner, and Pakistan responded a minute later through Rehan Butt who pounced on some nervous clearances from the Indian defenders. Pakistan was egged on by a large section of the crowd, as their cheer-squealers enlisted Chinese chorus support from an adjoining stand even as Indian support — smallish but high-decibeled awaited their moments to scream after the Chinese volunteers had neatly directed every supporter to respective corners asking ticket-holders for their nationality.

At 1-1 and moving along a pace set mostly by the Indians with their efficient moves, the Group B thriller went up a gear in the 16th minute when Dharamvir Singh dashed to receive a pass down the middle and moved up before scooping it past his only hurdle — on rushing goalkeeper Akbar Salman to take India 2-1 into the breather.

Tushar Khandekar pacing the left flank, and Arjun Halappa steering along the right, Indians attempted to build a few moves, and captain Rajpal ran 3/4th the length of the right edge as Indian incursions nibbled but couldn’t swallow.

Pakistan would have fancied their chances of wresting momentum after Shakeel Abbasi pounced on a howler of defense from first Gurbaj Singh, Sandeep Singh and then Dhananjay Mahadik as they leveled in the 43rd minute.

But India never let panic set in, forcing a penalty corner in five minutes and keeping the lead as Sandeep Singh flicked it past the keeper in the 48th to regain the lead 3-2.

Through it all, there was a conscious effort to deny Pakistan any peek-in chance with the short-corners as Indians defended with utmost caution, and even though Sohail Abbas was summoned into action the lone time in the 57th minute, Bharat Chetri was the quickest with his reflexes as he shot high in the air and blocked the looping ball with his glove — the stick held high.

A few minutes later, Sardara Singh effected a neat diving tackle as the Indian fortress didn’t look like it’d be raided again, and on the last move of the match India even forced a corner at the other end, just as time ran out with a 3-2 scoreline with a no-frills attack.