CWG 2018, India 2-3 Wales: 3 talking points from Indian women's hockey team's 1st match

Wales struck with just 3 minutes to go for the final hooter, shattering India’s hopes of a comeback. A resurgent Indian team had leveled the score 2-2 despite going 0-2 down in the first half of the game, but the last goal was too much to overcome.

Defensive errors by the Indian team early in the game gave Wales, ranked 26th in the world, many goal-scoring opportunities. They struck in the seventh minute of the game through Lisa Daley, with India’s Sunita Lakra failing to mark her.

India’s fortunes didn’t get better in the second quarter of the game as they again conceded a penalty stroke, which led to them going 0-2 down at halftime.

The second half of the game saw a resurgent India making a comeback with captain Rani Rampal leading from the front, who scored one goal and assisted Nikki Pradhan for another. But the joy for the Indians was short-lived as with three minutes left, Wales once again took advantage of the sloppy marking by Sunita Lakra to score the decisive goal.

India did work hard in third and fourth quarters winning 15 penalty corners, but only managed to convert one of those.

Now, barring a miracle, India’s quest to reach the semi-finals of CWG are all but over. Here are the major talking points of the India-Wales match:

1. Indian defenders are not comfortable with the ball

Harendra Singh’s team are known to enjoy holding the ball, building up play and then going for goal, but the Indian women's team, especially the defenders and midfielders, are not at all comfortable holding the ball. The first two goals India conceded were due to that reason alone.

Apart from the goals conceded, there were multiple occasions where the Indian team just gifted the ball to Wales in the striking circle.

Every good team’s strength is the ability to hold and rotate the ball under pressure, and that was not seen in the Indian team’s performance today against a side ranked 16 places below them. If India hope to have any chance of making it to the semi-finals, they need to improve their ball possession; Wales managed to beat India by a whisker, but England will not be so generous against such defence.

2. India’s penalty corner conversion is just horrible

In the game against Wales, India earned 15 penalty corners and managed to convert just one. That is a poor return considering they have Gurjit Kaur the penalty corner expert in the team.

Gurjit was not used on most occasions, with the Indian team relying on direct hits to score goals. Even when Gurjit was brought in to take them, the drag flicks were either straight at the keeper or way too wide of goal.

After multiple direct attempts on goal, India finally scored through a deflection by Namita Toppo. India won numerous penalty corners after that but failed to make a mark.

Winning 15 penalty corners in a game is nothing short of a miracle and if the team fails to convert them then frankly they do not deserve to win the game.

India now have an easy outing against Malaysia before tough matches against England and South Africa; the game against Malaysia provides the perfect opportunity for India to mend its penalty corner woes.

3. Rani Rampal is a class act

During the entire game against Wales, there was one Indian player who was always available in the camera frame, whether in defense, midfield or attack - Indian captain Rani Rampal.

Every goal scoring opportunity that India created had Rampal at the heart of it, and she was also dutifully available in defence whenever the team needed her. She assisted Nikki Pradhan for the first Indian goal of the game and scored India’s second goal with a brilliant deflection.

While the other Indian players were struggling with the ball and finding it difficult to get past the determined Welsh side, Rampal was easily cutting and dodging past her opponents. Her performance, despite the loss, was impeccable, and it should inspire the other players in the team.

The loss against Wales has hurt India’s chances of reaching the semi-finals, and they need to play out of their skin in the upcoming matches and also hope the results of other games work in their favour.

India will next play Malaysia on 6th April, and that game will be the perfect opportunity to banish their opening match ghosts and work for their second gold medal at the Commonwealth Games.