Ten minutes into the third quarter of the match played between India and Australia at the Paris Olympics, there was a bit of chaos. The Indian players had asked for a video referral in relation to a foul by an Australian player. The resultant outcome was a penalty stroke being awarded, with Harmanpreet Singh calmly netting the goal by beating Andrew Charter, the Australian goalkeeper.
That is when yours truly started to dream, “Would India beat its bugbear on the grandest of stages?” Another thought flashed in the mind. “Have I ever watched the Indian men’s hockey team beating Australia in either the Olympics or the World Cup?” Despite watching hockey for around three decades, there was no such memory in the bank. Eventually, you had to settle for a couple of wins over Australia in the Champions Trophy in 1995-96 and 2002.
The intensity of the match was such that there was no time to mull over past events. During the closing stages of the encounter, India seemed to have netted in another goal to make it 4-1. But it was overturned due to a stick tackle. To make matters worse, India conceded one too, with Blake Govers cracking a goal via a penalty stroke.
At that time, all an Indian hockey fan could do was keep an eye on the clock vigorously going tick-tock. From five minutes, it became 3 and then 1 minute and 30 seconds. Just when you were about to celebrate the moment of the men’s team usurping Australia in the Olympics, there was another of those fingernail-chewing moments: Australia came very close to getting the equaliser. That they didn’t find the back of the net was solely because of one man, the indomitable and fearless Sreejesh.
As soon as Australia made the raid inside the Indian ‘D’, Sreejesh rushed out. He was on the ground, but that didn’t stop him from somehow extending his left-hand to deflect the ball away. Although Australia asked for a referral in sheer desperation, it was quite evident that India had emerged victorious. When the final hooter was blown, one could observe how much the victory went to Indians across the length and breadth of the country. Soon, social media platforms were filled with congratulatory messages.
Just to put this victory into perspective, the last time India pipped Australia at the Olympics was way back in the 1972 Munich Games. Those were the days, when grass was the surface and not astroturf. Basically, a different style of hockey was played and a lot has changed since then. That is hockey at a macro-level. But what about India’s praiseworthy performance at the micro-level? How did they chart a turnaround after a rather average showing in the first few matches?
Probably, they were not winning enough of those 50-50-ball contests in their previous outings? Maybe, passing the ball through the flanks on both sides isn’t India’s style of hockey. Instead, you would rather see the Indian players have a direct approach. To their credit, India went back to a method which suited them the best and it worked wonders. India also converted a penalty corner opportunity. Until yesterday, India had only scored three goals out of 26 PCs in the tournament.
From Abhishek turning around and scoring a trademark goal to Harmanpreet converting the first penalty corner opportunity and the unremitting energy shown on the field, it encapsulated India’s insatiable hunger to beat Australia. It was fitting that Sreejesh’s agility and presence of mind proved to be the final jigsaw in India’s storied performance.