Tokyo olympics: Dominant Australia toy with India

India’s plans went haywire. The defence was in shambles, the midfield was unimaginative and the leaden-footed forwards were clueless. The years of training went down the drains and the team was exposed badly.

Hyderabad: It is a match that needs to be forgotten easily. A dominating Australia beat India (7-1) lock, stock and barrel. Yet again Australia won with a tennis-like score in this Pool A match. It was an abysmal performance by the Manpreet Singh-led team. The Australians continue to haunt India.

India’s plans went haywire. The defence was in shambles, the midfield was unimaginative and the leaden-footed forwards were clueless. The years of training went down the drains and the team was exposed badly. This is the second match only and coach Graham Reid will have to lift the morale of the team if they hope to make it to the semifinals. I never expected India to collapse like a pack of cards. The basic tapping, stopping and return passes were missing from the Indian team. They gave away easy passes and the forwards fumbled against Australia’s man-to-man marking. The Indian forwards often ran into a blind alley.

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On the other hand, the Australians were fast, aggressive and incisive. They were unstoppable. This team has a blend of youth and experience. Interestingly, they played the Asian brand of hockey. They had total control of the match and they dodged past the Indian defence with fast one-two passes. They kept the Indian defence busy with incessant raids.

Goalkeeper PR Sreejesh, who played a brilliant game in India’s 2-1 win against New Zealand, had a bad day in the office. He let in at least two goals with poor technique. Defenders Amit Rohidas and Birender Lakra looked out of sorts. They succumbed to pressure. I thought skipper Manpreet Singh would raise his game to lead the Indian attack from front. But he was nicely marked by Australians. The Aussies attacked the Indians whenever they were with the ball.

Quite often people ask me, why do we lose so badly to Australia? It is something I’m not able to understand too. The writing on the wall was when Australia got their first goal in the 10th minute through Daniel Beale. It was one-way traffic thereafter as Joshua Beltz (26th), Andrew Flynn Ogilvie (23rd), Jeremy Hayward (21st), Blake Govers (40th, 42nd) and Tim Brand (51st) gleefully pumped in goals to breeze past the hapless Indians. Dilpreet Singh scored the lone goal in the 34th minute.

India face Spain in their next Pool A match on Tuesday. We have to keep our fingers crossed.