Experts cite bad day at the office, feel India will return stronger after 1-7 mauling against Australia at Olympics 2021
The Indians suffered a massive 1-7 defeat at the hands of Australia in their second Group A clash of the field hockey competition at the Tokyo Olympics.
Graham Reid's team were very much in the contest until Flynn Ogilvie stopped Harmanpreet Singh's well-directed drag-flick on the line after Lalit Upadhyaya and Vivek Sagar Prasad combined to earn a short corner in the latter stages of the first quarter, with the Indians trailing 0-1.
The overall complexion of the match may have been significantly different had Harmanpreet's strike found a way into the Australian net. An Indian equalizer before the end of Q1 would have ensured a more even contest.
Former India goalkeeper Ashish Ballal and Olympian Joaquim Carvalho spoke exclusively to Sportskeeda after the match to analyze what went wrong and whether or not the defeat could hamper India's quarterfinal prospects.
Ballal, who is following the team closely, felt that the PC was a significant turning point after which the Indians caved in against the Aussie onslaught.
"The missed PC (goal-line save) at 1-0 was the turning point."
The man whose heroics during the penalty shootout of the Asian Games final of Bangkok 1998 helped India to a gold medal feels the team also gave away too many easy goals on what was a bad day at the office.
The Arjuna awardee also opined that the Indian midfield had failed to feed the strikers and there was a distinct lack of cohesion up front.
"We gave away too many easy goals after our PC was stopped on the line. It was a bad day at the office."
"The midfield and the forwards were not in tandem and there were too many holes and casualness in defence."
The Indians were always playing catch up and never looked to be in control of the proceedings as the utterly forgettable evening wore on at the Oi Hockey Stadium.
The Men in Blue, who had very nearly got the better of the Australians in the 2016 and 2018 Champions Trophy finals and the 2020 HPL, were expected to give the Kookaburras a run for their money at the very least.
Manpreet and co, however, dished out a performance that left their fans shell-shocked and distraught. The Indians were mauled by a ruthless Australian side who had struggled against Japan in their Saturday opener.
Ballal is optimistic that the team will return stronger and the defeat against a champion side like Australia is no reason to feel overly dejected.
"Nothing to be disheartened for losing to a champion side like Australia. It will serve as a warning for the boys to pull up their socks."
Olympian Joaquim Carvalho told Sportskeeda that his greatest fear before the Australia match was that the team might struggle in Tokyo's heat and humidity after a tough game against New Zealand on Saturday.
"My greatest fear was that back-to-back matches might affect the boys, especially against a strong team like Australia. That said, it was the same for Australia as well. So I am not absolving them altogether."
Carvalho feels that the Indians have conceded too many goals already - nine in total. They cannot afford to lose another match as a goal-average situation could go against them.
There is still a long way to go and the Indians are by no means out of contention for a place in the knock-outs.
Graham Reid's team will take on Spain on Tuesday and one hopes that the support staff will be able to prepare the side mentally after the draining defeat.
"Spain is a very tricky team and have had good results in the EuroHockey Championships and the Hockey Pro League. We will need to beat Spain as we cannot afford to lose another 3 points."
"In the first quarter, the Indians covered the ground and the midfield very well. They crumbled against the pressure exerted by the Australians, especially during the counter-attacks."
"Against a team like Australia, you cannot afford to miss PCs like the Indians did. "
Table-toppers Australia are the only unbeaten side in Group A right now, followed by Argentina with four points from two games and India with three points from just as many.