After a promising start versus Pakistan, India must maintain their intensity in the hockey

By Pargat Singh

Day 1 of the hockey World Cup had a few lessons for all the teams. First of all, no team can be taken lightly and the side that uses its resources best and holds its nerves, will emerge triumphant. Day 2 could be on similar lines as teams gauge each other.

South Africa and England must have opened the eyes of the team managements. Billed as the punching bags of the tournament, the African champions looked extremely organized in attack and defence. It was only in the second half that Spain picked up their pieces to score full points. Overall, Spain were quite unimpressive.

Aggression doesn't always pay and Australia may have realized that. England played a tactical game and their patient approach while defending penalty corners made a great impact on the game.

I must congratulate the English goalkeeper Nick Brothers and the two central defenders for keeping the Australians at bay. England's penalty corner conversion rate was also excellent. Jamie Dwyer, the Australian skipper, was his usual self. He scored both goals in the 3-2 defeat but that wasn't enough. The importance of a team game always holds the key.

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I had written in my preview that the team that uses it bench strength well, will have it easy. India did this well against Pakistan because the players were always fresh throughout a highly charged contest. A fresh mind thinks better. Fresh legs defend better. Hockey is a game where attack and defence has equal importance. On this count, coach Jose Brasa played his cards judiciously.

India played a great team game against Pakistan. Their body language was positive, the focus was spot on and the ploy to attack from the word go, definitely helped. Matches like Pakistan, where the mind factor plays a big part, it is crucial to make an aggressive start. By controlling the mid-field, where Sardara Singh was India's pivot, India grabbed early advantage.

Pakistan looked extremely disjointed in the first session. They could barely put together a challenging move and that is because Pakistan were over-dependant on their star players like Waseem Ahmed and Rehan Butt. I agree Pakistan were unlucky with Sohail Abbas hitting the crossbar twice from short-corners. God knows what would have happened if Pakistan got those two goals!

I think Dhananjay Mahadik had a great game in deep defence and Sandeep Singh did the job he is expected to do in every game. The quick passing game in the attacking zone saw Tushar Khandekar, Vikram Pillay and Arjun Halappa in good touch. But one man whose first impression has been excellent was Bharat. He looked cool in defence.

But there are a few alarming signs. Gurwinder Chandi conceded too many balls to the opponent while Prabhjot Singh and Gurbaz Singh were prone to over-dribbiling. Running with the ball will be our biggest enemy. The sooner we release the ball, the better.

India must now look forward to the next game against Australia on Tuesday. The Pakistan game is history. Let's get back to the drawing board, boys!

(Former Indian captain Pargat Singh will be writing expert columns for espnstar.com throughout the World Cup)