India scraped past much lower-ranked Ireland 3-2 in the opening match of the Rio Olympics thanks to goals from penalty corner experts Rupinder Pal Singh (2) and VR Raghunath (1). Indian team kept their fans nervous till the end as they conceded goals in the final 5 minutes of the game to invite pressure on themselves. Despite the win, the Indian hockey team has a lot to learn and improve before they face tough opposition like Germany and Netherlands. Here are five things we learnt from India’s performance against Ireland
Sardar Singh is GOAT
Before the start of the tournament, there was huge pressure on Sardar Singh - losing his captaincy to Sreejesh and problems in his personal life. Add to that, he was made to play in the forward line instead of his usual midfield and many expected him to succumb to the pressure put on him added by the media attention. But, Sardar stayed true to his name causing havoc to the Irish defence along with playing as a leader on the outfield.
Sardar Singh was instrumental in earning a penalty corner for India which led to the second goal but as the game progressed and Ireland’s increasing pressure on the Indian defence, Sardar moved back into the role of central midfield and controlled the tempo in the dying minutes of the game to guide the Indian team to a first round victory.
In the other proceedings of the game, it was Sardar Singh all over, with his name being the only ones uttered by the commentators. He was active on both the flanks and creating goal scoring opportunities for Indian team. Sardar Singh once again proved why he is considered as one of the best Indian players of recent times.
Strikers give India some hope
Though the strikers did not get their name on the scoring sheet, their performance gave Indian hockey fans something to cheer about after a fine display. It was youngster Nikkin Thimmiah who led from the front and he was equally supported by Sardar Singh and vice-captain SV Sunil. Nikkin was great with his run from left flank where he created two opportunities in the first half of the game. Though his effort did not result in a goal, his performance was a bonus to the team.
Akashdeep Singh, Ramandeep Singh and Devinder Walmiki failed to turn up but the overall performance of the Indian strikers did give some confidence. The addition of Sardar Singh in the forward line did add some creative boost to the team which helped India win 8 penalty corners during the game resulting in three goals from the team. A lot is still desired from the Indian forward line but their opening round performance against Ireland does give some joy to Indian hockey fans.
PR Sreejesh needs to improve his performance
There is no doubt that PR Sreejesh is India’s best performer and had a great 2014 and 2015 but his form is 2016 has been shaky. His shaky performance continued against Ireland as he was responsible for a soft first goal in which ball went between his legs for the first goal.
His positioning during the second goal was also questionable as he failed to stop Conor Harte’s solo effort which brought Ireland back in the game. Sreejesh’s performance of late has gone down from the high standards set by him but if Indian team is serious about getting a medal in Rio Olympics, Sreejesh will have to improve his game and stop conceding soft goals.
Defence still a headache
Strategic offensive principal of any game/war says, best defence is a good offence. Any team if defensively sound can go all-out attack without worrying about happenings in the defense, but Indian team cannot afford such pleasure as its defence, despite improving a lot over the years, is a concern.
India is blessed with good defenders in VR Raghunath, Rupinder Pal Singh and Surender Singh, but despite having three great defenders, the performance against Ireland will give coach Oltmans a headache, Against Ireland, India conceded 9 penalty corners which is nothing short of criminal, with penalty corner expert Raghunath being the major culprit..
While India did well to save 7 of those 9 penalty corners, conceding 9 penalty corners will give the upcoming opposition great hope. With the next match against Germany, coach Oltmans will have to sort out the issue to make sure that Germany do not get the same opportunities India gave to Ireland.
India finally realize power of its biggest weapon
India is the only team in the Olympics blessed with three great penalty corner experts in VR Raghunath, Rupinder Pal Singh and Harmanpreet Singh and with the Indian strikers firing blanks, the onus was on these three to score goals for India and they did not disappoint.
With Indian strikers failing to score field goals, they started focusing on earning penalty corners and out of the eight penalty corners earned, India managed to convert 3 (Rupinder Pal scoring 2 and Raghunath scoring 1) to give India a comfortable lead against the Irish. No doubt, the conversion ratio is much lower as compared with the times of Sandeep Singh, with 8 shots, their confidence is only going to build on.
Penalty corner conversion can improve even more in the upcoming games but today’s performance will give Indian penalty corners experts a great boost before the game against Germany.
India will next face 2012 Olympics champions, Germany, and by improving in certain sections of the game, India can give a tough fight to the defending champions. The match between India and Germany will be played on 8th August
