Hockey WC- Analysis of Indian team performance

India’s campaign in the World Cup is over, and out of five matches played, Indian team has lost 4 of them and only win has come against Japan. It is time to look at their performance and see how the team fared this time.The first thing that I saw in the tournament was-Skill Set- Gone are the days when Indian players were considered the best skilled players on the field. Other countries are easily beating us in this department. Teams like Germany, Australia, Netherlands are adding new tricks in their bag everyday while Indian team is losing theirs. The skills of the team are now turning into a liability than an asset for the team. I guess team needs to start from the scratch to play the game.Individual Play- Every country and players know the importance of team play, but Indian team seem to have forgotten this lesson. WE can still find every player going on his/her own to score a goal. For ex. In the game against NZ and Germany we could see the players going for individual play rather than team effort.Poor Marking- Man to man marking is very important in today’s hockey. Inability to mark the opposition is one of the major reasons that the teams are scoring goals freely. In the game against Germany, one could see an example of that. A German player was standing in front of the goal without and one marking her.Lack of Communication- The players cry out loud to each other during the game, but there was no message in that. The player are unable to understand the message that the other wants to give.Fear of opposition- This World Cup I also saw the fear from the opposite teams. The fear of getting hurt during the match is linked to commitment to face the opposition face to face. And the other teams know about it. We can see our players tricked easily during the games.Consistency- The only thing that is consistent in the team is that we are inconsistent. WE rarely see a full game without any problems. During a match we just 3-4 brilliant display of hockey as rest of the time it is the Indian team who is trying to catch the opposition.Planning and Tactics- One of the main reason for hiring a coach is tactics and game planning. Indian team has failed in both the departments. There is no basic plan of play. There seems no way forward for the team. One Indian player is often blocked by two or three players and there is no way the players are able to break that. They do not receive any support from the team mates. They have to go on their own to break it.5-3-2- This is the last point which I want to make is the formation. Hockey is not just about attack any more. It is more about defending and midfield. Indian team still plays the old 5-3-2 formation which does not give any returns to the team. In order to score goals they are weaken their defense and midfield.If the Indian team can take care of the points above(it is easier said than done) the I am sure that we will be able to win more games. Indian team should start with communication and formation. Next for the Indian team is CWG and Asian Games and improvement is the only way ahead for the team. Let us hope the team improves and gives something to cheer about in the coming tournaments.