India banking on flick trick in Hockey World Cup

“Sandeep Singh is the best drag-flicker in the world.” Just two days before the start of the World Cup, you would not find fault with chief coach Jose Brasa for coming up with such a statement. For, Brasa clearly knows that Sandeep is his trump card at the mega-event and the tall Sikh has the ability to decide the fate of the Indian team.

It is no secret today that a drag-flicker can win you a hockey match single-handedly on his day. Banking on this, India will be going into the Cup with not one or two, but three drag-flickers. Diwakar Ram and Dhananjay Mahadik would be the second rung to Sandeep.

Ever since the dreaded flick came into existence in early 90s, specialised penalty corner experts have slowly replaced the forward as the main goal scorer. If the main objective of the forward in the past was to score goals, it has changed in the last two decades. The striker’s job is now not limited to just scoring but also to earn penalty corners.

“That’s an important aspect of every team’s strategy. The thrust is as much on scoring goals as on earning penalty corners,” said forward Deepak Thakur admitting that the role of the striker has undergone a sea change in recent times.

Thakur also said that the three penalty corner specialists will play crucial roles in the event.

The best part about the Indian trio is that they all have a unique style of functioning. Sandeep can beat anybody with sheer speed and Mahadik is good at dodging the goalkeepers. Diwakar’s strength lies in accuracy.

“All three are unique in their own way. They are very hard to pick,” said goalkeeper Adrian D’Souza, who is himself expected to be in the firing line against the likes of Pakistan’s Sohail Abbas on the opening day of the World Cup.

“Given a choice, I would prefer to face up to a striker than to a drag-flicker,” he said. “The goalkeeper can guess which way the ball is going to come, but in the case of drag-flickers it’s difficult to predict.”

Even captain Rajpal reckons the trio to be his side’s strength as he had said recently that “Pakistan should be weary of our three flickers” when asked whether India were losing any sleep over facing Sohail Abbas.

“Just one drag-flicker is good enough to win a team a tournament. Even if the conversion rate is around 70 per cent, it will mean a lot. Hope we will be able to do that,” said Mahadik.

But for that to happen, the strikers will have to earn the short corners first.