Indian hockey team is all set to take on the Olympic champions Germany as part of their preliminary league match during the FIH Champions Trophy in Melbourne tomorrow. The biggest setback for the Indians is that of the persistent injuries that is more worrisome. However, the only saving grace is that the team has won against New Zealand in their last match, which should act as a morale booster for them.
In fact, the Indian side has been in the best of form with two back-to-back victories scored against England and New Zealand. This catapulted India to remain predominantly at the top of Pool A. However, physical problems to three crucial players will be a challenging task for coach Michael Nobbs before they move into an important encounter against the powerful Germans.
Already on the injury list are midfielder Manpreet Singh and striker S V Sunil who are yet to recover after the game against New Zealand. However, the team management might be relieved a lot because even if it rests them for this match, it will hardly pose any problems considering the fact that India registered wins during both of its previous matches.
India presently tops the list of Group A post winning of the opening two games in an emphatic manner. Meanwhile, it was Manpreet who had to part ways with the field during the final stages of the match against the Kiwis, holding his jaw after being hit on the face by the stick of Kiwi player. Though he received 10 stitches, coach Michael Nobbs is not sidelining him out of the match against a renovated Germany side.
“Manpreet is an enthusiastic youngster and he’s keen to play, but we’ll decide tomorrow,” reacted Nobbs, who offered his players a rest day to recover from the pressure of playing matches on two days continuously.
Also, Sunil nurtures a strained hamstring and his chances of playing too would also be revealed tomorrow in the morning session when the results of fitness test will be out ahead of the game. As if these issues are not enough, the coach has to bother about additional ones as well such as the stubbornness in captain Sardar Singh’s shoulder.
India’s scheduled rival for the next match is Germany, which has won the Champions Trophy nine times and even secured the Olympic gold medal in London Games, but just three members of the gold medal-winning team are featured in this squad. This should be in a blessing in disguise for the Indians. Meanwhile, the Germans began their Champions Trophy pursuit with a 3-2 win over New Zealand, but could not avoid a shock 1-4 defeat against England yesterday.
However, these mixed results cannot move Coach Nobbs even for a while as he was highly satisfied the manner his side displayed skills so far in this series. Perhaps, this has been India’s first big event after their poor sportiveness by finishing in the bottom place at the London Olympics.
“It’s been a good start and I hope the boys will keep improving,” said Nobbs in the end.
