India will miss Shivendra against Spain: Charlesworth

NEW DELHI: India would badly miss Shivendra Singh against Spain on Thursday but in a big tournament like the World Cup, the team should have prepared a good replacement for such eventualities, feels Australia coach Ric Charlesworth.

“Shivendra is a very important player for India. He is a very good player and will be missed by India. But every team must have cover for a particular player,” Charlesworth said.

Shivendra missed the last match against Australia, in which Charlesworth’s boys humiliated the hosts 2-5 yesterday and will also be out of the Spain encounter as he is serving a two-match ban for hitting a Pakistani player during the team’s opening game on Sunday.

The legendary Australian said the Indians are skillful but lack consistency.

“I have no doubt about the skills of Indian players but what is more important is be consistent. Consistency is a big issue with them,” Charlesworth said.

He also felt that the 12th edition of the mega-event will be tough for all teams.

“We love to play India at any time but this tournament is the most competitive World Cup in my view. Both the pools are very difficult,” Charlesworth said.

“But if you drop points, it is not the end of the world,” Charlesworth said.

He said India and Australia must play hockey on more often.

“I want India and Australia to play more. We will try to get more matches against the Indians in future. We tried for the last 14 months to arrange matches between the two teams but couldn’t succeed,” Charlesworth said.

Charlesworth also feels that Pakistan’s 2-1 win over Spain yesterday opened up Pool B as three teams – India, Pakistan and Australia – are tied at three points each while England was the only team to register two wins out of as many matches.

“I am very happy that Pakistan has won against Spain. It opens up the tournament,” he said.