Former Indian goalkeeper Adrian D’Souza watches intently as a younger goalkeeper takes a dash from the place the place a custodian takes guard to the world the place the penalty nook specialist takes his or her shot.
On the opposite facet of the synthetic turf on the SDAT-Mayor Radhakrishnan Stadium right here in Chennai, former India defender, a penalty nook specialist, and a key member of the crew that received the bronze medal within the 2021 Tokyo Olympics, is busy taking a video of a participant unleashing a drag flick. Then, he will get busy speaking to the younger gamers on the nuances of drag flicks. For over an hour, the 2 Olympians, Rupinderpal Singh (2021 Tokyo) and Adrian (2004 Athens) get occupied, discussing with the younger gamers, all aged under-19 years, the method and technique concerned in taking penalty corners and the artwork of goalkeeping respectively.
Novel initiative
“It is a unique and novel initiative by Hockey India. A coaching camp like this has not happened before,” gushed Adrian at the same time as Rupinderpal mentioned: “We want the players to have the right technique and we are eager to groom players who show bright potential.”
THE GIST
Rupinderpal mentioned the 0-5 whitewash within the lately concluded Test sequence in opposition to Australia wasn’t a real reflection of how the Indian males’s crew can carry out on the Paris Olympics
Adrian mentioned India must be cautious about Australia’s counter-attack because it has the flexibility to transform a defensive alternative right into a goalscoring alternative in 15 seconds
Rupinderpal and Adrian, who’re in Chennai for a week-long teaching camp organised by Hockey India, mentioned it was a novel thought by HI. They really feel the camp will assist identification and groom promising younger skills
The two Olympians are of the view that India can win a medal at Paris supplied they’re constant and play collectively as a unit
Of course, issues have been not so vivid for the Indian males’s crew particularly with Paris Olympics nearing. In a disastrous outing in Australia, India misplaced all of the 5 Test matches in Perth. The crew’s efficiency mirrored the Murphy’s regulation, “Whatever has gone wrong will go wrong.”
Rupinderpal and Adrian weren’t unduly anxious in regards to the crew’s drubbing in Australia. Rather, they felt it would power the crew right into a huddle and the gamers will provide you with a greater efficiency within the forthcoming FIH Pro League in Europe and the Paris Olympics.
Rupinderpal is of the agency opinion that the crew has to focus extra on penalty nook defence and rating extra subject objectives. The 33-year-old, with 223 International caps, defined the teachings learnt within the failed Test sequence in opposition to Australia.
“Test games are always taken as preparation before the bigger tournaments. So, I think I’m sure they have taken those games in that mentality only. But, of course in those Test games, they have tried many things including trying various combinations. They were new faces as well. I think the head coach (Craig Fulton) has given opportunity to new faces, too. In that way, I think it is a plus point that they have got five games against Australia before the Pro-League and the Olympics. And I think they just need to improve on defensive structure, especially penalty corner defence because they have conceded around seven goals during penalty corner defence; it‘s an area they need to improve. At the same time, they need to work on scoring some field goals as well.”
Having performed Test matches in Perth in his time with the Indian crew, Adrian mentioned Indians have executed badly in Perth. Especially when he was with the Indian crew twice, the crew fared fairly badly.
According to the previous India custodian, with 165 International caps, the biggest problem for the Indian males’s crew has been Perth. “More than Brisbane, Melbourne and Sydney, I think Perth has been a destination where as an Indian squad we’ve always had a tough time. There’s no specific reason. In my experience, Perth would always be a place where we would have a tough time. I think twice we went there during my time as a player. We lost the series 3-0 and 4-0 in 2007-08 & the next time was in 2010.”
Find new rushers
Adrian is evident that the crew has to enhance its penalty nook defence, which is an space of concern. He insisted India that has to search out new rushers aside from the standard ones comparable to Manpreet Singh and Amit Rohidas.
“We had the best first rushers like Manpreet Singh and the other guys out there giving their life out. And for attack, it’s always been Harmanpreet Singh and now we have Jugraj Singh and many others. And, of course, defender Amit Rohidas; he’s the wall, who is like a goalkeeper running out there. But we cannot always depend only on Amit and Manpreet. We have to find others. And that’s what this entire series has been about. There were many other players who got the opportunity to represent India against Australia in a Test series.”
Neither refusing to single out any participant who did nicely nor keen to select any participant for defeat within the Test sequence in opposition to Australia, Rupinderpal mentioned hockey has all the time been about crew effort and camaraderie. He mentioned if these two facets are there in a crew, any battle will be overcome. …”I don’t imagine in particular person performances. Of course, it counts. But on the similar time, if the crew’s coordination and crew’s atmosphere is nice, then any battle on the sector will be managed.”
Adrian mentioned the optimistic facet within the run-up to Paris Olympics was that the crew has sufficient time to arrange in contrast to what occurred in Tokyo. He mentioned: “For me, the biggest challenge is that the players shouldn’t get demotivated. Because we have less than 90 days for Paris. We have to learn lessons from Perth. Unlike the last time in the Tokyo Olympics, there were not many practice matches that the team could play due to COVID. But now the team is getting more exposure. I think the entire management must have surely learnt a lot. And figured out the best team for Paris because it is going to be a very tough one.”
Moreover, Adrian mentioned India has failed to regulate Australia within the latter’s counter-attacks. “Personally, I feel there are more challenging parts. Especially with penalty corner defence. And when it comes to Australia, it’s the counter-attacks that we have to be very, very cautious about. That was one of the weaker aspects. Definitely, Australia can convert a defensive opportunity. The Australian team will be defending and in the next 15 seconds, they will score a goal. So, the challenging part is how you break them as Australia doesn’t like to be broken. And they don’t like to have more fouls on them. And that was a great lesson to be learnt in the recent Test series.”
Adrian mentioned in Paris Olympics, possibilities of getting penalty corners isn’t straightforward and the Indian crew ought to be capable of convert the few possibilities it will get. “When you are going to go to an Olympics, you surely are going to only be prepared for two or three penalty corners per game, but you have to convert. Conversion rates have to be 100 per cent or at least 80 per cent. And not 50 per cent, which will not help you much.”
Rupinderpal felt India has been doing nicely in penalty corners with Harmanpreet and Jugraj doing nicely and he believed that they need to concentrate on it and fine-tune it.
Mastering it
Adrian mentioned the Indian crew has mastered the two vs 1 (return passes) the place the 2 attackers don’t maintain the ball or dribble for lengthy. Rather they move rapidly to the opposite giving no likelihood to the defender. “The best part what I have been observing in Indian hockey recently is the combination. The one-to-one passes that we have been doing. It reminds you of Dhanraj Pillay and Mukesh Kumar. You might change the colour of the turf, you might change the colour of the ball, but there are certain things you can’t change. A ‘2v1’ will always beat the opponent. But the way you do it and where you do it is so important. Right now, India has been doing it at the right places.”
Rupinderpal and Adrian mentioned a medal for India at Paris isn’t dominated out however as is the cliche it has to take one match at time. Adrian weighed in: “It depends on how consistent the team is on a given day. Because consistency plays a big role in the big events. You can have a great match versus Australia. Maybe, we’ll win Australia. But what if you lose the other games? What if you lose to Ireland? And that is the key for Indians, especially mentally. I think the Indian team has the right set of coaching staff. But at the end, what matters is how they work as a team. Because what you witnessed in the Tokyo Olympics is a complete team effort. Everybody chipped.”
The two Olympians strongly imagine that crew work would be the key for the Indian crew. Explained Adrian: “If you have 11 players on the field, even if eight players are giving their 100 per cent those three (non-performing) will be hidden. But if you have 11 players on the field and eight are not performing, then even those three who are performing will come in that loop.”
