Indian men’s hockey team’s post-Tokyo show concerns: real or unfounded? , Hockey News – Times of India

New Delhi: There was a lot of activity between India’s crushing defeat against France in South Africa and two Pro League games against Spain last weekend. The tone of affairs between Delhi and Bhubaneshwar was one of ‘damage control’, especially because it followed an abbreviated letter. Hockey India (HI) who termed India’s performance since the Tokyo Olympics bronze medal as “unacceptable”.
The socks needed to be pulled up, even if the reaction after a one-off defeat seemed surprising. Indian Olympic Association (IOA) President Narinder Batra, who is also the International Head Hockey Federation (FIH) wrote to HI – citing performance in Asian Champions Trophy (ACT) in Dhaka and Pro League tour of South Africa.
India finished as bronze medalists in Dhaka. The team won three of their four matches in South Africa, comprehensively beating the hosts and France, but a 2–5 loss in the second match against France fueled the words: “I see Team India as mismanaged and mismanaged. For such incompetence, way will have to be made,” Batra wrote in the letter.

(India won the first game against Spain 5-4, but lost the second 3-5 – Photo: Hockey India)
You don’t use ‘misunderstood’ and ‘mismanaged’ in conversation without knowing that something happened off the playing field. But at the moment everyone is silent on this.
Thus, it is difficult to stomach such a severe backlash for a single defeat, especially against the steadily improving French team, which had beaten India twice in the Junior World Cup last December. But the performance of the Indian senior team in the act was certainly below par.
Nevertheless, players and coaches were being called to Delhi for talks by Batra and then the IOA president flying to Bhubaneswar, playing a ‘team-building’ game, perhaps which featured similar scenes. .

(Narinder Batra interacting with the players during his visit to Bhubaneshwar – Photo Credits: Narinder Batra)
Last weekend, India played the first match against Spain as if they had lived their lives on winning grounds. After the Spaniards took a 4–1 lead, it was a 5–4 jail-break victory. The expressions of relief on the faces of the Indian players were not left untouched, but the return effort also cannot be ignored. It was commendable in every respect.
But international teams do not allow everyday return. Spain’s homework appeared more clean 24 hours later, and the final scoreline read 5-3 in favor of the visitors.
That Saturday’s expression of ‘relief’ turned into a tense groove on the Indian forehead on Sunday, indicating that the result had something to do with events in the two weeks between India’s withdrawal from France and the previous Sunday.
To link it to the performance on the field, the inconsistency in the six matches in South Africa and Bhuvneshwar cannot be debated. But if a coach is trying to find the best combination and strategy for the big tournaments ahead, many will commit to not reading much of such stumbling blocks along the way.

Still, could graham reed be on notice? This is completely undeniable, especially knowing India’s love-hate relationship with foreign coaches.
In contrast, India needs a steady pace over the next 12 months which includes Commonwealth Games, Asian Games and World Cup.
On a closing note, when TimesofIndia.com asked Spain head coach Max Caldas what he thinks is the difference between India which lost to the Netherlands coaching team in 2018 World Cup and India winning Olympic bronze in 2021 , so he replied in one word: “Graham.”