India had a very lacklustre game against Oman. A win was never in doubt against the 22nd ranked team in the world. But for India, it looked to be another game of wasted chances with the same mistakes and problems repeated in this game.
India's much-vaunted penalty corners were on target but only sometimes. This will be a problem against Pakistan as India will get considerably less penalty corners and chances to score. VR Raghunath scored two goals in the 39th minute and then a penalty stroke in the 60th but there were numerous failed attempts too.
India's field goals came after a disappointing goal-less first quarter, which was never expected against hockey minnows Oman. In fact, it wasn't until the start of third quarter that India's movement up front reached fruition. They scored three field goals - first by Akashdeep Singh in the 33rd minute, then Ramandeep Singh in the 54th and Danish Mujtaba in the 60th.
Rupinderpal managed two goals in the 18th and 19 minute but left the field with an injury that looked to be quite serious. His presence in the next match against Pakistan will be very important as his role in marshalling the defence is critical.
Oman unsurprisingly played a very defensive game and never seriously posed a threat to India's win; however, they did expose weaknesses again in India's game plan. Too many mistraps when there was no pressure, and in attack these continued as the game wore on. There seems to be little cohesive structure in attack again and far too many chances wasted.
Oman seemed to be content to just get the ball out of defence and not really threaten India's defensive wall. They lacked cohesion and spent most of the game just breaking down India's attack and hoping to keep the score down. Worrying signs were that India struggled in attack when put under pressure.
In the first game of the day China had a 6-0 win against Sri Lanka and showed that they will not be pushovers when India plays them in the last game of the round before the finals.
But the next game against Pakistan will be a thriller and unless India rectify some of these on-field problems, it could prove costly. Pakistan have a very experienced team and traditionally the games have been extremely close. Missed chances and poor tactics could prove costly and Pakistan will no doubt be watching and planning accordingly.
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