Win against Pakistan is our Holi gift to the country: Rajpal

NEW DELHI: It called for a massive Holi celebration for the Indians. They had earned it; they had played out of their skins to get it. Only, the day after their memorable win over Pakistan, they had no time to get into the festive mood. Bigger and tougher tasks beckoned.

“When is the time to celebrate? We have the match against Australia coming up (on Tuesday), next we play Spain, then England. We can’t relax now, we have begun well, we would like to carry on the good work,” said midfielder Arjun Hallapa.

The team did have a small celebration at the team hotel on Sunday night, where they just sat together after dinner and poured out their emotions.

“That was no celebration actually, we just shared our thoughts. It was a very emotional moment for all of us. The stadium ambience was simply unforgettable!” added Dhananjay Mahadik, who had an excellent day in the deep.

After a sound night’s sleep, the Indians were back for practice by 11 on Monday morning. One, though, could feel the jovial mood. There was a new spring in their steps as they went through the fitness drills.

“More than us, we are glad to have made the whole of India happy. This is our Holi gift to the country,” chipped in Rajpal Singh, the Indian skipper.

What were the things they did right against Pakistan? “We had formed a strategy and we just followed it. We had identified the players we had to mark out. Like we managed to pin down Waseem (Ahmed), and that choked their midfield. We also managed to restrict the movements of Rehan Butt, who can be really dangerous upfront. We stuck to the gameplan,” explained Halappa.

He added that India would play the same way against Australia. “We will finalise our tactics in the team meeting tonight. We know it would be a tough game. The Australians are known to be relentless in their attacks so we need to be solid in the midfield. We should be able to match them in physical fitness too. The mood in the team is very positive, we are confident of going the distance,” said the Bangalore lad.

Vikram Pillay, too, voiced the same thoughts. “We are all very happy,” he said, but added that there was a whole tournament left to play. “There are no celebrations. After all it’s just one match and it is not a point for big celebrations as yet. There are tougher matches ahead.”

The unassuming right-half felt it was teamwork that led to the emphatic win. “Every player did his job. Everyone worked hard and wanted to win, all 16 of us. We played focussed hockey, minute by minute,” Pillay, part of the 2001 Junior World Cup-winning squad at Hobart, added.

But he ended the retrospection then and there. “We play Australia in our next match and they will come hard at us,” he said. “It’s a new match, a new day and like us, Australia want three points badly.”