Now, some teething problems were expected. It was just natural when a goalkeeper of the calibre of PR Sreejesh announced his retirement. But Krishan Pathak has been below his best, some of the senior defenders have made some big mistakes and they have had the propensity to lose the last quarter… these were some of the issues that plagued the Indian team during the European leg of the Pro League when they lost seven out of eight.
That trend has continued here. Against both China and Japan, they lost the last quarter, made some telling mistakes and couldn’t regain control as quickly as they would have liked. Even if the stifling conditions as well as the slowness of the turf has contributed to that, the Indian team will know that they cannot repeat the same pattern when the Super 4s stage of the tournament begins on Wednesday.
Coach Craig Fulton, feeling the pressure to win after a slightly indifferent Summer, said that the game against Kazakhstan on Monday (the hosts won 15-0) came at the right time. “We had enough training in the areas we wanted to improve; this game (against Kazakhstan) came at the right time because it gave us a lot more focus on the final third. Players are feeling a bit more confident, and have a bit more feel of working together. That was lacking, I think, in the other two games.
