India colts finished with a creditable silver medal finish at the Sultan of Johor Cup last month — their last competition before the Junior World Cup that starts this Friday — but by no means was it a complete show by the Rohit-led side.
India registered competitive victories against Great Britain (3-2), New Zealand (4-2) and Malaysia (2-1) but they failed to beat neighbours Pakistan (3-3), a team which gets very little international exposure these days. To make it worse, the Sreejesh-coached team lost both their matches against Australia, 2-4 in round robin and 1-2 in the final.
What it shows is that though India may be a competitive team but to beat the likes of Australia, seven-time champions Germany, two-time winners Argentina, and powerhouses Netherlands and Belgium is going to take some major effort if they wish to lift the trophy in Chennai on December 10.
In Johor Bahru, India failed to maintain a clean slate in all six games. Though they scored 15 goals, they also conceded 14 — an average of 2.33 per match. Rohit and Co perhaps played their best match in the final and looked to take the contest into the shootout. But India conceded a penalty corner (PC) in the 11th hour — a traditional Achilles’ heel — to lose the final and trophy.
India’s tournament goal count could have also been more had they not missed numerous short corners throughout the competition.
“Reaching the final and putting up a good show against Australia was a great morale booster and gives us confidence. Definitely, there were concerns about PC conversion. After that, we emphasised and gave more importance to PC conversion as well as defense,” said junior India head coach Sreejesh, who was awarded the Padma Bhushan — India’s third highest civilian honour — in April.
“We attacked a lot and got a lot of counter attacking goals. We did well in attacks but simultaneously also conceded goals. That was an area we gave importance to in the last few weeks of preparation.”
Sreejesh arranged practice matches with players from Naval Tata HPC, Bhubaneswar. The boys also played against the Indian senior team in the camp in Bengaluru before many of them left for the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup in Malaysia. The junior team particularly focused on PC defence and attack. The team has also been working on which PC battery to use, first, second or in the middle, and when.
“These guys are flicking almost 200-300 balls a day. Their rhythm is like that. They set that area like that. We also set out variations in a particular way where they just go and deflect the ball, working on where they receive the ball, where they tap it, where we can plan for a backdoor entry. We’ve worked really hard on that,” said the 37-year-old.
“Even in the recent practice matches, these guys showed marvelous performances, converting PCs into goals. I believe we have covered that area. There definitely are areas where we need to look into. We need to do all this now because the last moment should only be about being calm and focusing on the execution of your drill.”
At the U-21 level, it is understood that the edges of these players are being sharpened, that they are in the process of becoming a finished product but that will come with experience.
In the absence of forward and drag-flicker Araijeet Singh Hundal, who has already played 21 matches for the senior team, and was ruled out due to a shoulder injury, skipper Rohit will act as the primary drag-flicker. Rohit was praised by Jay Stacy — the Australian who invented the art in the late 1980s and early 1990s — in a recent interview with HT.
The final camp was all about working out the challenges they will face at the Junior World Cup and being ready for the same, be the need to score when behind or handling the pressure of the dying minutes is where Sreejesh’s sharing of experience with the team will come handy.
Also, what will help is that some have already played for India, like Amir Ali and Gurjot Singh, or Shardanand Tiwari, who has already played a Junior World Cup. In addition, most of them have played in the Hockey India League (HIL) against the finest in the world, playing in front of packed crowds, getting invaluable exposure ahead of the most important competition at the junior level.
“That shaped them to become better players. This team is good enough. They just need to be on their toes to win. But it is not going to be easy,” said Sreejesh.
