New Delhi: India's listless performance against England to open 2014 came in for much criticism, and the team will have to bring its 'A' game to the Hockey World League (HWL) pitch against New Zealand here on Saturday.
India were almost absent in their 0-2 loss to England on the opening day of the HWL, with senior stars Sardar Singh, VR Raghunath and Rupinderpal Singh having an off day and the rest of the team struggling to coordinate.
India erred on old habits of poor trapping and holes in the defence that cost them a defeat in their first Pool A game, despite England not playing anything great - especially in the first half.
Despite having three penalty-corner (PC) specialists - Rupinderpal, Raghunath and Amit Rahidas - in the squad, India couldn't make use of the three PCs they earned in the game, while England converted two to take full points.
Sardar, who is expected to control the game from the centre of the field, didn't look in his elements and struggled to feed the forwards and string anything special with half-line players on his either side.
SV Sunil and Yuvraj Walmiki - who returned to the squad - failed to make an impression, as did Mandeep Singh who is expected to play the role Gurwinder Singh Chandi used to before his long injury lay-off. Chandi was among the probables' camp but wasn't considered for the final 18, probably needing more time to get match-fit.
The defence continues to be a concern, with Kothajit Singh guilty of soft errors that resulted in PCs for the Englishmen. Rupinder and Raghu will have to play like the pillars in defence in addition to converting PCs into goals.
New Zealand, who will come into the game looking for their first win after being mauled by Germany 6-1 in their first game, didn't look the No. 7 that they are. Germany easily dictated terms against the Black Sticks to get home in a one-side affair.
But the tournament format is such that each of the eight teams are assured of a quarter-final berth irrespective of the results at the pool stage. Divided into two pools of four each, all eight teams will progress to the quarter-finals.
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