Searching for its first win in the competition, an erratic India would be hoping to find the elusive consistency in its game as it takes on Great Britain in the quarterfinals of the Hockey World League Finals here on Thursday.
The last time the two teams met, Great Britain clinically dismantled India 5-1 in the HWL Round 3 in Antwerp. A lot has changed since then except for Great Britain’s impressive, structured attacks and the rock-solid defence that has helped it upset mighty Australia and become one of the favourites for the title here.
The Indians have had successful series against Oceania heavyweights Australia and New Zealand. But none of it matters now.
India’s forwards have been wayward, making mistakes in the basics of trapping and passing. Ramandeep Singh, Akashdeep Singh, Talwinder Singh, S.V. Sunil, Mohd. Amir Khan have all fluffed chances in the three games so far.
Coach Oltmans has defended them, saying the final pass upfront has not always been accurate enough. The midfield, though, has been an incessant feeder line, making up in quantity what, as per Oltmans, it lacks in quality.
India has other things to worry about as well. The forwards haven’t been able to create penalty corners either. The defence has held up for most parts but let in soft goals to neutralise some good tackling. The Sardar Singh-led side was lacklustre against Argentina, inspired against Germany and oscillated between sublime and ludicrous against Netherlands.
Oltmans admitted to the inconsistency. “We’ve not been consistent enough, that’s very clear.
We have been good in certain phases. There’s room for improvement,” he said. Today’s matches: India vs Great Britain (6.30 p.m.), Belgium vs Argentina (8.45 p.m.).
