Cedric is spoilt for choice

13/02/2002

TWENTY-TWO Indian players were sent off their shores to the tune of the
bhangra, to the land where they have tasted their only glory in the World
Cup after nine appearances.
Never failing to be among the elite World Clup playing nations since its
inception in 1971, the story of India is one of sorrow, sliding to a
miserable 12th in the 1986 London World Cup.
Their best finish was in 1975 in Kuala Lumpur where they beat Pakistan
to the gold and that is it. Now they are back in Kuala Lumpur after 27
years and hoping for a similar run.
And the Junior World Cup triumph, the Champions Challenge victory and
the six-nation Gold Cup win in Dhaka last year, have all added to the
growing excitement back home.
Now their only problem is how to trim their squad of 22 to 18. They
arrived early in Ipoh for that sole purpose, and four strikers might get
the chop by a week's time.
"In the Champions Challenge (last year), I had so many problems in
reducing the 18-member team to 16. Now I have to pull my hair out in
deciding to leave out four players. They all are playing so well," said
Cedric.
The good news is that most of the juniors who took part in the Junior
World Cup are not greenhorns anymore.
Gagan Ajit Singh, Deepak Thakur and Devesh Chauhan have already played
in the Olympics. Fullback Jugraj Singh is an up and coming and fast-
improving penalty-corner conversion exponent and was the second highest
scorer after Deepak Thakur in the Hobart Junior World Cup.
Dhanraj Pillay, who will be making his fourth appearance in the World
Cup, is definately a player to watch because he slices into the semicircle
with ease - but he needs at least 15 attempts at goal before converting a
goal.
That is the biggest problem plaguing India right now and Cedric knows it
well as he said: "It is time to cover up the weaknesses as well as we can
and play on our abundant skills," before leaving for Ipoh.
Poor finishing is their biggest problem as displayed when they went down
2-1 to Malaysia in the preliminaries of the Champions Challenge. Their
mesmerising skills were of no use as the forwards wasted open chances and
that could be their downfall in the World Cup.
Dhanraj and skipper Baljit Singh Dhillon tried every trick in the book
and pinned the Malaysian side in ther own semicircle for long durations
but poor finishing was their bane.
Dhanraj is the star attraction on the field and he plays many roles,
right from scoring goals to saving them during penalty corners. Since he
is the most marked man, Dhanraj tries to make space for the other members
of the team.
"The opponents waste at least two players on me and that gives space to
others to exploit," Dhanraj said.
India have an aggresive and speedy frontline and their target is to make
the semifinals and it is not too far off as their only other contender in
Group B is South Korea. Australia are a firm favourite for the other semis
ticket form Group B.
Malaysia meet India on Feb 27 and there is a fair chance for the hosts
to collect three points. And if nothing else, the stands at the National
Hockey Stadium will surely be filled to the brim as they have always been
when the two teams play.
jugjet@nstp.com.my
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