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In a massive heartbreak for Indian fans and a major jolt to Indian hockey, the men’s team crashed out of the FIH Men’s Hockey World Cup after losing to New Zealand in a crossover match on Sunday, 22 January. The match went to a heart-stopping penalty shootout from which the Black Sticks emerged as winners in the sudden death round.
The Indian team had led 2-0 in the match, and then 3-1, only for the Black Sticks to level the scores before the end of the regulation time. The penalty shootout saw the Indian team being on the brink of elimination in the first round of five attempts itself. New Zealand were 3-2 up and needed to score just one of their remaining two attempts to book a spot in the quarter-finals.
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However, the veteran PR Sreejesh saved the next two attempts by New Zealand to keep India alive and Sukhjeet Singh converted India’s last sally to force a sudden death duel.
Four attempts were taken by both teams in the sudden death also and eventually, Shamsher Singh’s miss ended India’s Hockey World Cup campaign.
Indian hockey team better than New Zealand in first half
India went into this match without Hardik Singh and that was bound to affect their performance. It had done so in the game against Wales and was bound to have a bigger impact against a major team like New Zealand.
However, things seemed to be going smooth in the first quarter. India created some good chances and seemed stable. However, there were no goals as New Zealand managed to avoid any major mistakes.
It seemed that India deputed in-form forward Akashdeep Singh to fill the boots of Hardik by putting him in the midfield. He, like in previous games, helped out the defense greatly in the first half.
In the 18th minute, Akashdeep stole the ball from a New Zealand player deep in India’s half and dodged another. He then gave a cross pass to Shamsher Singh who took the ball forward and passed it further to Lalit Kumar Upadhyay in the ‘D’. Lalit was standing all alone and drilled the ball in to give India the lead.
India managed four penalty corners in the first half and this time, Harmanpreet Singh looked more on target. Though he didn’t get any goals, he was hitting the ball well. In the 25th minute, a drag-flick from Harmanpreet ricocheted up in the air off the goalkeeper. Sukhjeet Singh astutely tapped the ball in a tennis shot-manner to give India a 2-0 lead.
However, India’s aggressive play was allowing too many opportunities for New Zealand to launch a counter-attack. They were managing to make regular incursions into the circle and one produced a goal, in the 29th minute.
New Zealand got a free hit around the 23-meter line and Sean Findlay moved forward. The Indian defenders stood still, trying to avoid committing a foul by tackling him before he had gone five meters. As a result, Findlay entered the ‘D’ and gave the ball to Simon Child standing close to the baseline on the left-hand side. Child pushed the ball towards center to Sam Lane who deflected it in to bring New Zealand back into the game.
Indian team lose the plot in second half
With a 2-1 scoreline at halftime, Indian fans had enough to be nervous about. The second half made things worse. The match became an end-to-end affair with both teams launching one attack after another.
The Indian team got Akashdeep back into the attacking front while Mandeep Singh, who was very active in the first half, disappeared, maybe due to injury. However, what was most worrying for India was their inability to hold on to the ball, especially in the midfield.
New Zealand were going into attack and entering the Indian last 25 territory too easily. However, before that could create problems for the home team, they managed to increase their lead. With Harmanpreet failing to convert PCs and variations not working, India gave ample chances to Amit Rohidas and Varun Kumar to try their drag-flicks.
Varun scored with one of his attempts in the 41st minute, as his shot went between the legs of the goalkeeper.
However, the joy was shortlived as the Black Sticks scored their second goal in the 44th minute, with a penalty corner of their own.
This put the cat among the pigeons as far as the Indian team was concerned. What followed was an extended period of New Zealand’s domination where they were relentlessly keeping the ball in and around the Indian circle. This much pressure was bound to have an effect sooner rather than later.
It did in the 50th minute as another PC for New Zealand was converted by Findlay, as the Indian runners once again failed to neutralise the opposing attackers.
The performance by India in the remaining minutes was shambolic. There seemed to be no confidence, no structure, no link-up play, and no proper thinking. No player seemed confident of winning one-on-one duels, passes were just being thrown around with no one to receive, and free hits being taken without any vision.
The match seemed destined for a shootout. But before that, India had a heart-stopping moment inside the last 10 seconds as a cross from Simon Child was almost deflected home. Krishan Pathak made a great save, his third of the final quarter, to keep India alive.
However, it only delayed the onset of agony. What was most galling was Harmanpreet Singh’s effort on India’s first attempt in the sudden death round of the shootout. Sreejesh made his third successive save on New Zealand’s first try in the sudden death round. This meant that if Harmanpreet had scored, as he did in the first round of the shootout, it would have been India in the quarter-finals.
Stunningly, instead of trying to dodge the New Zealand goalkeeper with smart movement and skills, something Harmanpreet is more than capable of, he went for an all out hit from the top of the ‘D’. It was easily saved by Leon Hayward, keeping the Black Sticks alive. In a tournament where he has badly flopped, this miss by Harmanpreet gave a fittingly miserably end to his ordeal.
What was shocking was how nervous Indian players looked in the shootout, with the exception of Rajkumar Pal. This, coupled with their miserable show in the last 10 minutes, suggests a team that is badly in need of a shake-up, big time.
