The Hindu : Sport / Hockey : Same old story, Pakistan wins again

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Feb 21, 2006

Sport

Sport - Hockey

Same old story, Pakistan wins again

Kamesh Srinivasan

JALANDHAR: It was the same story enacted in similar fashion as India lost 1-2 to Pakistan in the third hockey Test at the Surjit Singh Stadium, Burlton Park, here on Monday.

Pakistan was quite sharp in converting its chances while the Indian team lacked the confidence in its stride and alacrity in its approach to make a match of it.

The third successive defeat in as many matches in the six-match home and away series, was a true reflection of the relative abilities of the two teams. The fact that the home team managed to restrict the margin to one goal was appreciated by the rival skipper Mohammed Saqlain.

It was no surprise that a lot of spectators from the stands left the stadium at halftime when India trailed 1-2. The hopes had evaporated rather quickly.

Upping the ante

Pakistan pressed hard in the second half with a series of six penalty corners, but the uneven bounce of the worn-out turf made the job of the home team easy in defending those short corners.

India was unable to make an impact, except for knocking home a fine goal through Tejbir Singh, who was the livewire up front. Tejbir deflected a fine cross from the hard-working Rajpal Singh in finding the equaliser ten minutes after Pakistan had shot ahead through Tariq Aziz midway through the first half.

Later, it was a fortuitous deflection off a defender's stick that was smashed home by an alert Saqlain that clinched the match-winner for Pakistan two minutes from the hooter. India could have equalised a minute later but the dependable Tushar Khandekar missed out when he had a golden chance right in front of the goal. It was another matter that the Pakistan goalkeeper Nasir Ahmed denied a clear look of the goal for Tushar who tried to dribble his way past the goalkeeper but ended up knocking the ball tamely on to the pads much to the disappointment of the crowd.

A learning experience

The chief coach Rajinder Singh junior said that it was a learning experience for his team and hoped that the boys would cut down the errors and strike a good combination especially in the forward line during the Pakistan leg of the series.

"We haven't got enough time and we need more matches to get better. We are playing good and are capable of doing better," said the coach, who praised the goalkeeper Bharat Chhetri and the courageous effort of Vikram Pillay in the midfield.

The Indian captain Ignace Tirkey said that the team needed to grab the chances and convert them.

"We need to improve our finish. It is very important that we at least force the penalty corners to give a good chance for players like Sandeep Singh," said the captain, quite disappointed that his team could not force a single penalty corner.

The Pakistan captain Saqlain said that he was quite delighted by his team's effort in winning all the three matches. The classy Rehan Butt expressed the same sentiment earlier when he knelt down and put his head on the turf to thank the Almighty for the successful series, immediately after the hooter.

The Indian boys too put their heads down, in shame.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail