Asia in pocket, India seek world order

CHENNAI: Immediately after winning the Asia Cup final against Malaysia on Sunday, a Hockey India (HI) media official requested Manpreet Singh to give a few by­t­es for social media. The capta­in spoke only for a minute but he k­ept revisiting a word throughout the impromptu talk. Team. “I am delighted because we played really well as a team,” he said. “Lots of hard work have gone in­to the victory. The forward and the defensive line exhibited lots of teamwork. It was extra sweet be­­cause Sunday happ­e­n­ed to be Satbir Singh’s birthday. So I dedicate the win to Satbir as well.” 

That kind of bromance, while not new, is heartening. India’s hockey players have long been accused of putting individuals over the sport but here was the captain sending a strong message — team trumps over everything. Crucially, this wasn’t corporate speak. The stats bear him out. They scored the most number of goals (28), Harmanpreet Singh won the joint-top goalscorer award (seven) but a lot of others joined in the fun. In all, there were 11 of the 18 players struck goals — the most by an Indian team at a single tournament for quite sometime. In the absence of Rupinderpal Singh, the importance of Harmanpreet’s drag-flicking abilities is paramount but he was well aware of his defensive responsibilities as well. “He not only gave us goals but played an important role in defense,” Manpreet said. 

“Overall he had an excellent com­p­etition” 
There is another reason why team cohesion will gain prominent importance under the new man Sjoerd Marijne. Given Ho­c­key India (HI) has radically altered the direction of the side – a player-driven, coach-assisted system is going to be new mantra — the early numbers will please the Dutchman, who was parachuted as coach in curious circumstances following the sacking of Roelant Oltmans in September. Marijne himself was happy to see the number of different players who sounded the board. “Leadership in the team was very positive,” he told Express. “A lot of different goal-scorers was also a positive. It was also a good experience for many of the younger players to play and win in a final.” 

That’s the other thing about playing and winning a final – so­m­ething India have seldom done in recent times despite all the talent at their disposal. Manpreet was mindful of that. “We will go ba­ck to camp and the hard ya­rds will be put in training as higher-ranked teams will be co­ming for the World League Final.” 

What happens there will offer more clues. 

swaroop@newindianexpress.com