At no. 11, 10-nil isn’t far away!

PANAJI: Whether or not Australian national coach Richard Charlesworth uttered the words, the latest men’s hockey rankings suggest that Australia c
ould well have routed India 10-0 had they played a ‘Test’ match.

India are ranked 11th, a rung below Belgium, relative newcomers in the top 10. The Belgians recently played a three-Test series against the No. 2 ranked Aussies and lost two matches, the final Test ending in a 0-10 defeat. If one crudely applies the rankings formula, India could have been similarly thrashed by the Aussies.

In any case, the truism of Charlesworth’s ‘prediction’ is not going to be put to test. The Indian team will not play against the Aussies on way to New Zealand where they play the Black Sticks in a four-Test series.

To the avid fan, the case of touring Australia without playing the Kookaburras would be like visiting Rio de Janeiro and missing the carnival.

However, Mohd Aslam Khan, convenor of the ad-hoc committee, said the Aussies were unable to play against India because of their busy schedule. “Since we are travelling to New Zealand, a stopover in Australia is virtually free of cost. In any case we have a tour of Europe lined up later this year,” Khan said.