India played the second match of the tournament against Australia. I waited for the match to start. Watching the match was not the same as the first one. Where do I begin...?
First the Indian striker Shivendra Singh was suspended for 2 matches, suspension reduced from 3 to 2 matches. So we lose the services of our main striker. It is really strange how the suspension came into force when the Pakistan team had not lodged a complaint against the player. What message does it leave? Is it biased towards the Asian players? If we had look at the England and Australia match earlier it is clearly visible how there had been rough tackles but no one was pulled up.
The commentators spoke out about the Indian players with a mean note from their Commentators box throughout.
The Indians were over powered by the Aussies from the very beginning.
Indians were at a disadvantageous stage when their ignorance of putting the ball out of the touch line was paid off with a penalty corner in favour of the Aussies who converted it into another goal. The team needs to do a lot of homework with the prevailing rules.
The Indians did lose the match 5-2 but still has chance to get a birth to the semi-finals with a win over Spain in their next match. But they have to careful with the goal margin.
Wish the Indian team all the best for the next match.
After all Indian Hockey is not losing its sheen with so many following the game whole-heartedly.