After a 1-5 thrashing in the opening match of the series, the Indian men's hockey team went into the break with a 2-1 lead in the second match. Much-needed improvement, it appeared.
Now, it wasn't that they were outplaying the Aussies: just that it seemed like India had found that missing solidity in defence, and they were finally converting their penalty corner chances. Both Jugraj Singh and Harmanpreet Singh produced powerful dragflicks to put India ahead. There was still a long way to go but if they could do more of the same, India would be in with a chance.
Fifteen minutes later, India were down 4-2. And that was that.
Australia started the third quarter in their usual manner -- relentless with their attacking hockey -- and the result was that they handed India a second loss in as many days.
How India faltered in third quarter
India lost the plot in the third quarter and were passive, just as they were in the opening match. The first two goals conceded in the quarter told a strange story of a team that was looking to strengthen defensive structures under head coach Craig Fulton.
In the 33rd minute, Jarmanpreet infringed an aerial ball and gave up a penalty corner to Australia. Jeremy Hayward stepped up and unleashed a powerful hit towards Krishan Pathak's right side. Pathak, who had earlier conceded the opening goal similarly, was once again slow to react and Australia equalised.
Eight minutes later, India's defence was at fault again. Matt Dawson sent a long, grounded ball towards the D, there were a couple of lovely deflections off the Aussie sticks and the ball went through the legs of Pathak as the Aussies completed the turnaround. Credit should go to Australia and Jacob Anderson who got the final touch, but India's defensive shape was all over the place. This time, Pathak couldn't do much as the final touch was too close but India's defence could've done better to avoid the goal.
Australia added one more goal in the final minute of the third quarter - a superb finish from Nathan Ephramus to make it 4-2. The final quarter was a mere formality: the game was done by the 45th minute.
The bigger concerns for India
While India lost the match in the third quarter, performance-wise they still need to do a lot better across. You cannot come to Australia and expect the home team to commit mistakes for you to capitalize on. World-class teams don't work like that. Over the first two matches, India simply didn't do enough to force errors from their opponents.
That becomes an issue when India concede like they are and don't create anything of significance at the other end. On Sunday, they did convert two penalty corners but apart from those, their attacking game lacked ideas. Fulton has taken as many as 10 forwards to this tour and if these two matches are taken into consideration for the final squad, none have impressed yet. The issue was so evident that even the broadcast commentators were asking if India are getting enough help from their forwards.
The chance-creating aspect is one thing - Mandeep Singh, Abhishek and others aren't able to control simple traps inside the box. The attacking transitions are slow and the counter-attacking game-plan is not working.
In Perth today, the conditions were tough with hot weather playing a role. There was a moment in the opening quarter when India had a great chance to counter with nearly all the Aussie players present in their attacking half. India didn't move the ball fast enough and the Aussie players ran the length of the pitch to convert the counter-attacking situation into a low-block defence. India had other counter-attacking chances but nothing concrete came out of them because either they were too slow or made silly errors.
The two opening matches have shown there's a big mismatch between the teams. Australia displayed why they are one of the best attacking teams in the world and India could not counter their opponent's intensity.
There have been few positives so far for Fulton's team, but the head coach has three more matches to make improvements.
Remaining matches:
April 10 (3 pm IST)
April 12 (3 pm IST)
April 13 (2 pm IST)