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Sixteen teams are in the fray and the defending champions themselves are candid enough to admit that the tournament at Bhubaneswar will be the most open World Cup ever. Australian coach Colin Batch goes to the extent of saying that getting past the pool stages will not be easy, citing the topsy-turvy results at the Women's World Cup earlier this year,
The overall formula for the Indians (or any side in the tournament) to get their hands on the coveted trophy is quite simple - six straight victories to realize the World Cup dream.
Does Asia's top-ranked side have what it takes to manufacture three consecutive wins to top the pool without a shade of doubt and three victories in the knockouts to seal the deal in front of a vociferous home crowd?
The Indians have had the advantage of familiarising themselves with the playing surface at Bhubaneswar and are armed with an enviable think-tank with an FIH certified coach at the helm, who has been in the business for well over a decade now.
By Harendra's side is Chris Ciriello, who has been part of one of the most accomplished teams in recent times, and is slowly but surely inculcating, in the Indians, the Aussie hunger to never stop winning.
The European culture of total hockey is fast being perfected by the Indians who are one of the fittest sides in the world. If the hosts stick to the game plan, hold their nerve, and perform to their potential, December 16 may well go down as a red letter day in the history of Indian sport.
A team game requires every man on the pitch to strain every sinew, but a few individuals, by virtue of their position and expertise will need to provide the cutting edge if the Indians are to get past the best teams in the world.
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Let's take a look at five of Harendra's key men.
#5 Amit Rohidas
Stopping PCs, in the modern game is developing into a specialized art.
The positioning of the runners, the timing of the charge from the goal line, and the ability to take a body hit from a ball that is transformed into a missile, and propelled towards the goal at speeds of well over 110 km/hr requires both courage and skill in equal measure.
Prevention is better than cure as defenders around the world are well aware, and the ability to shadow a striker with a grounded stick and time a tackle to perfection in one's own circle so as to not concede a PC is now being perfected by the Indian defense.
Odisha's very own Amit Rohidas has mastered the all-important skills of PC stopping and PC prevention - and what's more, he can also fire the PCs into the back of the net just as effectively.
"Before standing on the goal line, I tell myself that I will not allow the ball to cross at any cost. I tell Sreejesh to cover the right side of the goal and leave the left to me. I also let the second runner know that I will cover the high balls and that he should be prepared to block the flick should it come low. "
"I feel proud if I am able to block a shot with my body," says the gritty who took the full impact of Mubashar Ali's drag flick on his upper arm in the opening encounter of the Champions Trophy against Pakistan.
In a pool match of the Azlan Shah Cup at Ipoh in March, the lad from Sundargarh beat Argentine goalkeeper Vivaldi to score a PC brace, and in the absence of Rupinder Pal Singh, Amit may also have to shoulder the responsibility of taking a few drag-flicks to surprise the opposition at Bhubaneswar.
#4 Akashdeep Singh
Indian striker Ramandeep Singh has been emphatic that the Indian forward line resembles a well-oiled machine when he combines with Sunil, Akashdeep, and Mandeep - alas, injuries to Ramandeep and Sunil mean that two vital cogs in the wheel will not be able to drive Harendra's side ahead at Bhubaneswar.
As such, it is absolutely imperative that Akashdeep Singh shoulders the responsibility of organizing the men up front if the Indians are to make an impact at the World Cup. Young Dilpreet has made no secret of the fact that Akashdeep is the one who inspired and guided him all through.
The incredibly talented striker seemed rather off-color at Gold Coast and failed to come into his own throughout the Commonwealth Games. Akashdeep was picked for the Champions Trophy but failed to make it to Breda following a last-minute injury
In the pool matches of the Asian Games, he enthralled spectators with his stunning tomahawks from near-impossible angles driven in with an air of apparent arrogance.
Splitting open the best defenses in the world requires a lot more than brilliant individual skill, and cohesion among the strikers will need to be at it's absolute best at Bhubaneswar.
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#3 Mandeep Singh
At the Champions Trophy at Breda, the Indian strikers regained their magic touch which seemed to have been lost at Gold Coast.
In the opener against Pakistan, Mandeep Singh drifted in behind the Pakistani defenders and manufactured a PC at the end of the first quarter. The Jalandhar lad then combined brilliantly with Lalit to earn yet another at the beginning of the second.
Mandeep then found the back of the net in the final quarter to register India's third goal when goalie Imran Butt was taken off which effectively knocked the wind out of Pakistan's sails.
Yet again, against Pakistan, in the Asian Champions Trophy at Muscat, Akashdeep Singh delivered an assist to Mandeep who trapped the ball with his back towards the goal and.squeezed it between his legs, and into the net, while being rooted to the spot.
The Indian strikers are obviously combining well, of late, and Mandeep revealed the secret to Sportskeeda after the Champions Trophy.
"After we returned from the CWG, we took some time to retrospect on what went wrong and realized that we did extremely well to enter the D multiple times but were erring in the D by not connecting on to assists or not being able to take shots on goal."
"When we started our training camp, coach Harendra Singh conducted separate sessions only for the strikers for us to get a better idea of when to take a hard crack at goal and when to push the ball deftly. We worked very hard on those aspects and made a note of all that we had learned."
All that Mandeep and co. have learned will be put to a stern test when they attempt to penetrate the rock-solid Belgian defense on Sunday. Success against the Red Lions will the first step, for the Indian forward line with bigger challenges to follow.
#2 PR Sreejesh
Can goalkeepers win matches for their sides singlehandedly?
Quico Cortes was instrumental in getting the Spaniards to Bhubaneswar, just as David Harte frustrated the best teams in the world with his brilliance in front of the Irish goal.
The Indians have PR Sreejesh who has got his side over the line under the most adverse conditions. Genial, affable, quick-witted, and with a sense of humor that is quite unique, the Indian goalkeeper is one of world hockey's most loved and respected personalities.
The ever-smiling Sreejesh can suddenly transform himself, as he dons his gear, snarling and shouting out a barrage of instructions to his defenders to position themselves appropriately as the rival strikers advance.
Two European neighbors unleashed all the firepower in their arsenal at Breda, but neither Max Caldas' Dutch side nor Shane McLeod's Belgians were able to beat Sreejesh more than once. The veteran goalkeeper took India to the Champions Trophy final almost singlehandedly, displaying no signs or after-effects of the injury that he sustained last year.
If the Indians are to go all the way at Bhubaneswar, Sreejesh will need to guard the Indian goal better than he has ever done in the past and ensure that the youngsters retain the fire in their belly until the very end.
#1 Harmanpreet Singh
While the stocky drag-flicker is lethal in the striking circle, as a defender, he displays admirable serenity and composure in his own circle. Rarely ever does Harmanpreet Singh display any emotion after scoring, and this is how the 22-year-old explained his sedateness on the pitch.
"I do not like to lose focus in between a match. Celebrations can happen after the match but during the match, it is important to stay focused until the end."
"Even after scoring, we should never forget that the match is not over yet. The smiles can always wait until after the match."
It is extremely difficult to maintain one's consistency in the drag-flicking department as one is under the constant scrutiny of coaches the world over as Chris Ciriello explains.
"For someone like Harmanpreet, over the last 5 tournaments or so, you can have access to every video. So, you can then actually have someone sort out how many flicks he has had, where he has flicked predominantly, and where he has scored. So, I do that to the opposition, and other countries will do that to our drag-flickers as well."
"The most important thing is that we need to become unpredictable but most of the time, we are too predictable."
Yet, Harmanpreet has continued to fire them in with a level of consistency that truly makes him a world class drag-flicker.
Along with Birendra Lakra and Amit, Harmanpreet is also the mainstay of the Indian defence and displays maturity well beyond his years as he mans the backline, and does not hesitate to advance when the opportunity presents itself.
India's top drag-flicker will need to execute to perfection, the various tips and routines taught to him by Jugraj Singh and Chris Ciriello, and continue to stop the advancing strikers in their tracks as the moment of reckoning approaches.
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