India have had a good record previously against Oman and I think they will do so again in their second consecutive meeting against the world hockey minnows after a not-so-impressive win against Sri Lanka in the campaign opener.
After Sunday's game against Sri Lanka, India need to do some hard thinking about what to expect from Oman and what they need to do to improve their own performance (read goal difference).
Oman played China in their first match and lost 5-0. They will be aware of how Sri Lanka successfully adopted a very defensive style against India and will look to emulate that. Oman is a stronger team than Sri Lanka and ranked 22nd in the world. Considering that, they should have more teeth in the attack than the Lankans to trouble the Indians.
India need to realise that they have to improve significantly in this game as the next one will be against Pakistan, which will probably be the decider as to who faces South Korea in the first semi-final.
Oman is a physically tough team and although India have won comfortably the last few times they played them, if Oman show improved fitness, they will be a much tougher proposition than before. Oman will be stung from the defeat against China and will be looking for a much better show against India.
China showed they are also going to be a much tougher team than previously and it will be interesting to see how well India fare against Oman before taking on Pakistan and then China. The first game tomorrow will be China vs Sri Lanka and that may give India an idea as to how strong the Chinese are.
India should win comfortably if they bring their A game to the pitch; if not, any slip in concentration and another low-scoring game won't land them any gains going deeper into the tournament.
India need to make up the goal difference from the last game and this could be their last opportunity to get a high score.
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