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*Originally posted by ehsan: *
Asif bhai what happened, they were performing very well till recently and suddenly they have gone down. Any major changes in the team or what?
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I think there is only one word to describe that 'CHOKERS' . Recently I was reading an article which summed the Indian performance prior to Champions Trophy very well.
Every year our team wins some insignificant tournaments where they somehow manage to beat couple of big teams (Which are actually the 'A' Sides) and after that media, IHF and Dhanraj pillay start their trash talk of India doing this and that.
All this talk of India losing Moral after the Neetherlands game is a load of BS. These guys are playing International Hockey for 10 years and it's just an excuse. At least they should come up with a better excuse.
All this talk of India losing Moral after the Neetherlands game is a load of BS.
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I hope it is..but it is not.... I did mention amout the general Indian psyche...whether it is cricket or hockey or any other game...when was the last time you saw Indians coming back from a shock defeat to win anything.... mental toughness has always been our problem... have you seen the "doomsday" look on the face of Srinath when he is hit for a six...that exemplifies what I am trying to explain...
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*Originally posted by Asif_k: *
Every year our team wins some insignificant tournaments where they somehow manage to beat couple of big teams (Which are actually the 'A' Sides) and after that media, IHF and Dhanraj pillay start their trash talk of India doing this and that.
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This is not entirely correct. They have been winning against good sides in the recent past. They even defeated the Australian senior side in Australia. They have been winning against Pakistan throughout the year (not just against the depleted Paki side in Australia). With the kind of infrastructural support Hockey gets in India, I would call these achievements spectacular.
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*Originally posted by Some1: *
"doomsday" look on the face of Srinath when he is hit for a six...that exemplifies what I am trying to explain...
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We call it the yateem looko GS. Srinath is the man.
Anywayz, coming back to Pakistan, look at the other matches and how Australia and Holland are playing, looks like those draws we got were well worth it, even though I still think we could have won them, had our defence stood up strong.
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*Originally posted by Some1: *
This is not entirely correct. They have been winning against good sides in the recent past. They even defeated the Australian senior side in Australia. They have been winning against Pakistan throughout the year (not just against the depleted Paki side in Australia). With the kind of infrastructural support Hockey gets in India, I would call these achievements spectacular.
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Some1 - There is no point blaming infrastructure, after all with the same infrastructural support we have been beating those big teams in insignificant tournaments, aren't we ? I dont even remember the last time we won or at least reached in the finals of some tournament where top 3 teams of the world participated .
I think aussies used those games as practise and didn't take those games too seriously and they were more focussed on experimenting and preparing for this tournament. Losing to Argentina ?? That's a disgrace man..Imagine how would the Argentines' feel if they got beaten by us in a Soccer match ? How can the morale go so low that we cant win a game against Argentina ?? That really hurts..
^ FYI - Argentina is a very good hockey team and has beaten both Pakistan and India on many occaisions before, there is no shame in losing to a quality team.
