Raipur Bolstered by an inspired show against Olympic champions Germany, India would look to maintain consistency in pursuit of their first win in the tournament when they face defending champions Netherlands in their last Pool B match of the Hockey World League Final in Raipur on Monday.
India dished out a superlative performance on Saturday to hold the mighty Germans to a 1-1 draw. The draw holds greater significance for India as it came on the back of a disastrous outing in the tournament-opener against Argentina.
If in the 0-3 defeat against Argentina the hosts looked out of sorts, against the Germans India produced a near-perfect game to dominate the match for the majority of 60 minutes.
Unlike the match against Argentina, the Indians showed more urgency and attitude from the word go against Germany.
The Sardar Singh-led midfield produced a stellar performance to create numerous scoring opportunities for the forwardline, which was missing in the first match.
Sardar himself has led by example in the two matches while Manpreet Singh showed hunger and was instrumental in setting up a goal for Akashdeep Singh against Germany.
Barring a few silly errors, the backline too played a solid game against Germany. Birendra Lakra, in particular, stole the limelight in both the matches.
But India's fowardline should be a cause for concern for chief coach Roelant Oltmans. Ramandeep Singh and Talwinder Singh were impressive in the first two matches while Akashdeep played well in patches.
To add to India's forwardline woes, S.V. Sunil, who did not play against Germany on Saturday, is a doubtful starter on Monday as well as he is yet to recover from a knee injury sustained during the game against Argentina.
"He (Sunil) got hit on the knee. You never know how long it will take but I expect him to recover and be back during the tournament. I am not sure whether he can play against Holland but I hope him to play in the quarter-finals," Oltmans had said after Saturday's match.
Oltmans was full of praise about his wards' performance on Saturday but sounded caution ahead of their final pool game against world No.2 Netherlands.
"We had more chances (against Germany). The team really had done very well. I said before that one defeat is not a disaster in a tournament like this. The good thing is we created chances, against Argentina we didn't and that is the big difference," he said.
"We have another tough game to go against Holland and these matches help us to be better," Oltmans added.
Against Germany on Saturday, the Indians showed aggressive intent and the energy level was also high and it remains to be seen whether they can maintain the same competitive attitude against Netherlands on Monday.
Looking from the tournament's point of view, a win on Monday will do a world of good for Indians. A victory will not only boost their confidence but will also help them avoid a last-place finish in the tough Pool B.
India are presently at the bottom of Pool B and last-place finish means they will have to play the Pool A toppers in the quarter-finals, in all likelihood world champions Australia.
On the other hand, with a win and a draw, Netherlands are sitting pretty atop Pool B and on rankings, the Dutchmen will definitely start as favourites on Monday.
But the Indians will be a confident lot going into the match as in the last meeting between the two teams -- last year's Champions Trophy -- India registered a close 3-2 win over the Netherlands in pool stage.
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