Rio Olympics 2016 hockey: First knock-out qualification in 36 years but India need to learn from mistakes

August 12, 2016

Rio de Janeiro, Aug 12: The pendulum decided to swing late; and it swung as if on an overdose of Dianabol. With six minutes left, Holland leading 2-1, India had a penalty corner. Not just one as it transpired but five in quick succession. The hooter had already gone.

rio

In the killing tension, India misfired one after the other, the fifth forcing Sander Baart, the Dutch defender to save on the line. Dutch coach Max Caldas’ pumped his fists in celebration; the 2-1 win over India well-earned and hugely fulfilling. India trooped off failing to draw the game but massive lessons to be learnt before playing Canada. For the record, a quarter-final place already confirmed but a win over Canada would ensure a possible 3rd place in Group B.

After a goalless first two quarters, Holland opened the scoring in the 32st minute through Rogier Hofman. India equalized in the 38th minute, off a penalty corner flick by VR Raghunath. The match-winner converted by Mink van der Weerden came in the 54rd minute off the Dutch 4th penalty corner.

After a 3-3 draw against Argentina in the opening match, the Dutch had it easy against Canada thrashing them 7-0 and then carving up Ireland 5-0. India was the superior side the Dutch encountered after Argentina and the first two quarters showed exactly that sentiment. Both teams played carefully; almost like measuring each pass. Errors were minimum and the play wasn’t fancy, considering the skills at the disposal of both the sides. It also showed the respect that Holland had for India. Most of the play in the 1st quarter was confined to the midfield, a few forays rarely reaching the top of the circle. The first chance for Holland came in the 2nd quarter, 19th minute, when Valentin Verga took a shot which was saved by PR Sreejesh. For the Indian goalkeeper, it was another brilliant display under the bar. It was a slightly different Sreejesh; soft on the pads and not taking too many risks with his outward movement, the Indian goalkeeper waiting for the ball to come before using his pads and gloves. In a swift movement, Holland found itself inside the Indian striking circle but Robert van der Horst’s stiff shot was padded away by Sreejesh.

At the end of the 2nd quarter, both teams were tied goalless. It was like a chess game; both coaches refusing to commit players upwards, fearing counter-attacks. But finally something had to give. Holland earned their 1st penalty corner in the 31st minute and Mink’s flick rebounded off the pads of Sreejesh. Hofman, lurking nearby, swooped and struck the opening salvo. Holland led 1-0.

Stung, India showed pace on the flanks and a few good runs by SV Sunil and Akashdeep Singh rattled the Dutch a bit. India was pushing. Showing good possession, they earned their 1st PC which Dutch goalkeeper Jaap Stockmann saved off Rupinder Pal Singh. But the umpire had pointed for a second PC. Raghunath came up and his flick was low, going past the feet of two Dutch defenders to enter the left corner of the Dutch goal. India had equalized and the match was on.

Momentum is lost by rash decisions and for India the 41st minute in the match saw two yellow cards for Sunil and Raghunath. Sunil’s was on the run, his stick prodding the defender. But Raghunath’s was a childish act. His elbow went into the face of the Dutch defender and India had to defend for five minutes with nine men and a further five minutes with ten. But the momentum had shifted. Sreejesh and the defense played a stellar role keeping the Dutch away. Raghunath was back on the pitch in the 51st minute. But the Dutch were riding high by then. After Sreejesh saved the 3rd penalty corner, Mink was successful with the 4th. Holland led 2-1.

India’s structure, so strong in the first two quarters, was now shaky. The forwards had played the 3rd quarters as full time defenders. But they moved, desperate for the equalizer. India had a PC in the 57th minute. Surprisingly, Holland became ultra-defensive. India piled on the pressure and in the end minutes, they hovered in and around the Dutch striking circle. The thriller started with six seconds left. By the time, the ball was injected, the hooter had gone. Five consecutive penalty corners were given by the umpire with one referral in between by the Dutch players rejected by the video umpire. Rupinder Pal Singh took the 4th and 5th flicks. Raghunath came on for the 6th and 7th. And then Rupinder came back for the 8th which almost slipped in except for Baart who stopped the ball on the line.

It was India’s second defeat in the Group with two wins against Ireland and Argentina. India play Canada on Friday and a win should ensure a 3rd place in Group B. India have a hundred percent record against the Canadians in the Olympic Games winning three out of three.

Comments

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.
News Network
July 19,2020

Dubai, Jul 19: On hold for the past two months, the fate of this year's T20 World Cup will be up for a decisive round of deliberation when the ICC board meets virtually on Monday with the BCCI hoping for a postponement to ensure that the IPL can go ahead.

The global event is supposed to be held from October 18 to November 15 in Australia but the country's cricket board had, in May itself, expressed its inability to host amid a second surge of Covid-19 cases in the state of Victoria.

With India's case load also exceeding the 10 lakh mark, including more than 26,000 deaths, the IPL, if it is held, is likely to move to the UAE once the central government gives its go ahead.

"The first step was postponement of Asia Cup, which has happened. We can only start to move ahead with our plans after the ICC announces the postponement. They have been sitting on the decision even after Cricket Australia said that they are not too keen on hosting the event," a BCCI Apex Council member told PTI on conditions of anonymity.

This year's T20 World Cup will likely be held in Australia in 2022 as India doesn't want to swap its 2021 hosting rights with Cricket Australia as of now.

That Australia won't be hosting the mega event was clear after the cricket board told its players to prepare for a white-ball series against England scheduled for late September.

CA has even announced a 26-strong preliminary squad for that tour.

The ICC, on its part, has maintained that it wants to explore all possible "contingency" options before taking a call of such immense magnitude. And it is not unusual for the governing body to wait this long.

"Pakistan was supposed to host the Champions Trophy in 2009. After the terrorist attacks on the Sri Lankan team bus, everyone in their proper senses knew that PCB will never host a big event in distant future," said a source familiar with the functioning of the ICC.

"Yet, ICC deputed its employees in Pakistan for months when South Africa was already preparing to host the event. Everyone knew but a formal announcement of shift took months as threat assessment was part of protocol.

"The ICC couldn't have just postponed 9the T20 World Cup) immediately as initially, the top ministers of the Australian government expressed keenness to host," he added.

The Pakistan Cricket Board has also resigned itself to this outcome after vehemently opposing the Indian board.

The postponement of Asia Cup, which was supposed to be hosted by the PCB, to 2021 was a big blow to Ehsan Mani and his team.

"We have had a lot of discussions and the feeling is it (T20 World Cup) would not be possible this year. ICC has World Cups lined up in 2021 and 2023 so we have a gap year where we can adjust this event," Mani had recently said while talking to reporters in his country.

It has been learnt that PCB is contacting other boards in the hope of finalising some bilateral engagements as the national team has nothing lined up after its England tour.

Nomination process for Chairman's election:

The other issue that is likely to come up for discussion in Monday's meeting is the nomination process for the next independent chairman of the ICC after Shashank Manohar's resignation earlier this month.

It is learnt that there is no consensus on what should be the criteria in case multiple candidates join the fray.

"The board is not united on whether the usual 2/3rd majority to decide will be used (as its in case of policy decision) or the case of simple majority among the 17 board members," an ICC Board member said.

England and Wales Cricket Board's Colin Graves was considered the top contender with BCCI president Sourav Ganguly's name also being floated.

Ganguly's candidature will certainly depend on whether the Supreme Court waives off the cooling off period and allows him to continue as BCCI president beyond July 27 when he completes six years as an office-bearer in the Indian Board's state and national units.

When asked about the possibility of taking up the ICC job in a recent interview, the 48-year-old said he is young and and in no hurry for the position.

New Zealand's Gregor Barclay, Hong Kong's Imran Khawaja, who is currently the interim chairman, are also being talked about as potential candidates.

Comments

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.
Agencies
February 4,2020

Potchefstroom, Feb 4: Yashasvi Jaiswal and Divyaansh Saxena guided India to a comfortable ten wickets win over Pakistan in the ICC U19 World Cup semifinal at Senwes Park on Tuesday and progressed to the final of the tournament.

Chasing 173, Indian openers Jaiswal and Saxena played cautiously and stitched an unbeaten partnership of 176 runs.

The duo built the highest opening partnership of the tournament's history. Jaiswal, the left-handed batsman, scored his maiden century of the tournament as he amassed unbeaten 105 runs studded with eight fours and four sixes.

Saxena scored 59* off 99 balls including six fours. India chased down the total in 35.2 overs. This is the first time in the history of the U19 World Cup that a team won a knockout match by ten wickets.

Earlier, Pakistan won the toss and elected to bat.

Opener Haider Ali and skipper Rohail Nazir's half-centuries guided the side to a respectable total of 172. Ali played a knock of 56 runs while Nazir accumulated 62 runs including six boundaries.

Pakistan did not have a good start as they lost Mohammad Hurair (4) in the second over. Fahad Munir, came to bat at number three, failed to score a single run and was departed by Ravi Bishnoi on a duck in ninth over.

Apart from Ali and Nazir, Mohammad Haris was the only batsman to score runs in double digits. He played an innings of 21 runs off 15 balls. Indian bowlers showed a spirited performance as they bowled out arch-rival in 43.1 overs.

Pacers Karthik Tyagi and Sushant Mishra bagged two and three wickets respectively. Spinner Ravi Bishnoi clinched two scalps and conceded 46 runs in his ten overs.

Comments

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.
News Network
May 10,2020

New Delhi, May 10: Former Australia captain Ian Chappell has proposed radical changes in the LBW laws, stating that a batsman should be given out leg before as long as the ball is hitting the stumps irrespective of the spot of its landing and impact.

Chappell also said captains should agree on one way of working up the ball which will encourage swing bowling, even as the ICC is considering the use of artificial substances to shine the ball instead of sweat and saliva in post-COVID-19 scenario.

"The new lbw law should simply say: 'Any delivery that strikes the pad without first hitting the bat and, in the umpire's opinion, would go on to hit the stumps is out regardless of whether or not a shot is attempted'," he wrote in a column for ESPNcricinfo.

"Forget where the ball pitches and whether it strikes the pad outside the line or not; if it's going to hit the stumps, it's out."

The 76-year-old said the change in lbw law would attract expected criticism from the batsmen but it would make the game more fair.

"There will be screams of horror - particularly from pampered batsmen - but there are numerous positives this change would bring to the game. Most important is fairness.

"If a bowler is prepared to attack the stumps regularly, the batsman should only be able to protect his wicket with the bat. The pads are there to save the batsman from injury not dismissal.

"It would also force batsmen to seek an attacking method to combat a wristspinner pitching in the rough outside the right-hander's leg stump," said Chappell.

He cited Sachin Tendulkar's example on how he negotiated Shane Warne's round the wicket tactic during the 1997-98 Test series in India.

"Contrast Sachin Tendulkar's aggressive and successful approach to Shane Warne coming round the wicket in Chennai in 1997-98 with a batsman who kicks away deliveries pitching in the rough and turning in toward the stumps. Which would you rather watch?

"The current law encourages "pad play" to balls pitching outside leg while this change would force them to use their bat. The change would reward bowlers who attack the stumps and decrease the need for negative wide deliveries to a packed off-side field," he said.

Chappell said his proposed change to the lbw law would also cut down "frivolous" DRS challenges.

"This change to the lbw law would also simplify umpiring and result in fewer frivolous DRS challenges. Consequently, it would speed up a game that has slowed drastically in recent times.

"It would also make four-day Tests an even more viable proposition as mind-numbing huge first-innings totals would be virtually non-existent."

On the substitute of shining the ball without sweat and saliva, Chappell said international captains should find out a way of working up the ball.

"With ball-tampering always a hot topic, in the past I've suggested that administrators ask international captains to construct a list (i.e. the use of natural substances) detailing the things bowlers feel will help them to swing the ball.

"From this list, the administrators should deem one method to be legal with all others being punishable as illegal," the cricketer-turned-commentator added.

Comments

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.