India tour to New Zealand - October 2015

[sameerph]

In the third test, it is 1-1 at half time with us scoring first and NZ equalising.

[sameerph]

Ramandeep scores and India is now leading 2-1 after Q3.

But, NZ equalise again. It is 2-2 with 5 mins to go.

And a superb reverse stick goal by Dharmveer takes us into a 3-2 lead with couple of mins to go.

That is where it end with us winning the match 3-2.

2 consecutive wins against NZ in NZ is something pleasing indeed.

[ssp]

Couldn't watch the match, so thanks Sameer for the updates.

Good to hear us win and score at the end of a match for a change. Encouraging results so far. I'll watch a replay of the match and post my thoughts later, but Sameer, what was your opinion on today's performance?

[sameerph]

I watched only last few mins, when India scored the last goal. Was only following the scores before the match. I thought it will end up at 2-2 but our guys did press well in attack in the end and got a good goal.

[Tolamu]

I hope zamana badal gaya for good. We used to cancede a flurry of goals in the last few minutes.

[sameerph]

In the last match of the series , we drew with NZ 1-1. Again could not watch the match. But, we won the series 2-1. That is a pretty good results considering how we have fared recently against them. This should give some confidence to boys and Roland Otlmans.

[jaydeep]

That also after losing the first match of the series ... Congrats to Indian team and Roelant Oltmans.

[ssp]

Pleasant series win against a team we have been pathetic against for ages. Well done.
NZ have to defeat Australia in the Oceanic championships to get to Rio. They might do this because the Aussies have rested several regular players....and there maybe some underhand stuff 'arranged' already

[Qualia11]

We also have a test series coming up against Australia in Raipur in lead up to HWL finals

Ofcourse I guess that will be a short tour considering that it has been scheduled between Nov 19-23

[ssp]

Watched the replays of the last 2 tests.

Overall, we were lucky to win the series as both teams were evenly matched. As usual the opposition played much more controlled and consistent hockey. They created more PCs and possibly more circle penetration and possession. They also made far, far fewer silly errors and passed a lot better than us. We had great speed and occasionally strung together some brilliant moves but gave the ball away far too easily and had to carry 2/3 players in every match.

We struggled to get the ball out of defence against a high press on most occasions. This is where Gurbaj is so vital. Whoever played in his place (Jasjeet, Gurjinder, Ragunath etc) would get hemmed in and then resorted to a hopeful aerial and always the ball would end up on a NZ stick. The left side was almost as bad- especially when Chinglensana was playing.

To get better results in future, we need to cut out the lethargic display of the 1st test (terrible intensity, no marking, no tackling...just meek surrender) and at least halve the silly errors (mis traps on the open side!!, sloppy passes, mindless dribbles) and increase the ball speed. I still see an error in every single minute of most matches. We usually hold possession for 30 secs and then give the ball away and end up chasing it for the next 2-3 mins!

Oltmans has got us defending better (on the evidence of the last 3 tests at least) and attacking at the right time as well as crowding the ball carrier in a sensible way. We are not at Walsh's level yet, but may get better if we get some continuity in coaching staff and players. Batra has effectively ruined 18 months of progress with his vendetta against Walsh.

We are still getting very little from our circle penetrations. Our forwards just panic or get dispossessed far too easily and just never find a convenient foot!

The easiest thing to fix is down to the selectors. What the hell are Satbir, Mandeep, Akashdeep and Chinglensana doing in this squad.All of these guys gave the ball away repeatedly. I don't think Satbir trapped even one pass properly and got tackled every single time (100% failure rate!!). Mandeep made one clever run in the 4 matches, but lost the ball about 90% of the time. He also has the habit of shielding the ball and giving away a foul when on the left side. Akashdeep probably lost the ball about 80-90% and didn't redeem himself with any goals either. Chinglensana lost possession about 60%. I could add Uthappa, Jasjit (several mis traps on the open side) and Raghunath.

Not sure if Gurbaj has a chance of returning to the team, but I'm sure Pardeep Mor, Vikram Kanth, Vinaya or a couple of the juniors (Harmanpreet or Jarmanpreet) will offer better options on the right side. I'd also bring in Gurinder (instead of Chinglensana) and drop at least Satbir and Mandeep (Akashdeep seems to have a permanent place guaranteed for the next 4-5 yrs!!) from the forwards. Affan Yousseff and ...well any other forward will be an improvement!