The temperature in Tokyo on Saturday morning was 35 degrees with humidity at 45%. At the Oi hockey stadium, during India’s 3-2 win against New Zealand in their opener, the ambience was hot enough to fry an egg inside the chicken. In the end, what mattered was seasoned goalkeeper PR Sreejesh’s calm head and quick reflexes, which tilted the verdict in India’s favour.
While they walked away with a morale-boosting win and three points in the Pool A contest, it exposed some chinks in the armour which need to be addressed before India take on Australia, who battled to a 5-3 win over hosts Japan in the opener, on Sunday.
The takeaways for India, apart from Sreejesh’s brilliance, was their ability to hold on to the lead and stay composed at the finish line. This apart, there were waves of brilliance from the defenders, penalty corner conversions from Rupinderpal Singh and Harmanpreet Singh.
Manpreet Singh and co. also turned out to be the wiser men on the pitch with crucial video referrals, which turned out to be a game-changer.
On the flipside, the inexperience in the forwardline was laid bare. They frittered away 25 circle penetrations, holding on to the ball longer than necessary and stuttering with coordination inside the striking circle. Also, their counterattacks were below par.
The fact that they conceded 10 penalty corners will not be lost on the defenders.
The first quarter was all about the open game New Zealand rolled out. They attacked on both flanks and stormed ahead in the sixth minute when the experienced Kane Russell slotted the ball past Sreejesh off a penalty corner. India regrouped and four minutes later, Rupinder, who has endured career uncertainties for a couple of seasons, made the opportunity count by slotting in a penalty stroke with precision.
The New Zealanders kept up the pressure which the Indian defenders thwarted clinically. India played with a lot of focus and intent after half-time, resulting in Harmanpreet (26, 33) giving them a 2-1 advantage. Among the few glitches in this phase was Lalit Upadhyay wasting a goal chance, with only the goalkeeper beat, in the 19th minute after being fed by Manpreet.
Although Stephen Jenness pulled one back in the 43rd minute, India managed to hold on to the lead. In the dying moments of the game, Sreejesh took over from his teammates, standing tall to thwart the New Zealanders with some spectacular saves.
