Indian hockey team has been plagued by injuries already as they are left with little time to prepare before they take on four-time defending champions Australia that appears to be a draining semifinal encounter of the Champions Trophy here on Saturday.
The visiting team will be competing for their first final showdown in the tournament`s history while defending World Champions Australia will be looking forward to break into their sixth consecutive Champions Trophy final, after cruising through the tournament the last four times in a row (2008-2011).
Skipper Sardar Singh and midfielder Manpreet Singh have gamely continued on playing as required by the call of duty even after numerous limitations resulting because of the injuries inflicted during the current tournament.
But they relished good domination over England on way to the 2-0 win in the quarterfinals. India, requiring to add to their lone Champions Trophy bronze medal of 1982, also relied on their defence in the quarters against Belgium.
The semifinal against Oz team is thought to be a crucial game physically, and coach Michael Nobbs today taken the side for a training session to sort out the issues with the forwards in the 1-0 victory against Belgium.
"Our defenders were simply brilliant, but the forwards did not handle the ball well in the quarterfinals. These forwards have not been doing this in earlier games, so it probably seems to be a question of being out of position. We`ve worked on that today," said Nobbs.
The Indian coach informed he was satisfied with the team`s display in the Champions Trophy, which India entered by virtue of a wild-card though ending last in the 12-nation London Olympic Games hockey competition.
"Making the Champions Trophy semifinals has been wonderful after some disappointing results recently," said coach Nobbs, comparing India`s terrible show in the Olympics.
Nobbs lauded the Indian defence for maintaining its ground to carry India into the semifinals.
India defenders VR Raghunath and Rupinder Pal Singh displayed their skills to the core in ensuring India remain in fray for title and held on to the early lead even after the strikers losing the ball simply and adding up the pressure upon the defence.
These two defenders along with goalie TR Potunuri will have to recreated the same magic if India is to sustain any hopes of breezing past hosts Australia.
"We have a problem with injuries, but the team needs to take that in its stride. Look at the way Sardar and Manpreet have continued to play by overcoming the pain," added Nobbs, reminding that that he took an emphatic risk with striker SV Sunil, who will have no more role to play after increasing his hamstring injury.
Australia`s coach Graham Reid was confident that his team was starting to cruise though scoring few goals in the preliminary league stages.
"One of our objectives was to get better with each game. I think we played pretty well last night against England," said Reid, who has been offered charge of the bench for the Champions Trophy by chief coach Ric Charlesworth.
