Free Fall

India’s continuing hockey slide reveals a deeper rot than just scorelines. To be sure, India’s men’s hockey team has been here before: riding high on Olympic glory, only to crash into mediocrity months later. Yet the current slump, coming off a medal-winning performance at Tokyo 2020, has an air of the alarmingly familiar. Six consecutive losses in the European leg of the FIH Pro League, capped by a late implosion against an experimental Australian side, suggest more than just a dip in form.

At first glance, the narrow margins in recent defeats might seem reassuring. India have not been blown off the pitch but have been undone in the final quarter, again and again. The problem lies in that recurring pattern. Across the board - against the Netherlands, Argentina and now Australia - India have conceded decisive goals in the dying minutes. The Pro League’s European leg has been a study in squandered leads, defensive chaos and elementary errors. It is the kind of meltdown that elite teams simply cannot afford and India, allegedly among the fittest squads in international hockey, have no business suffering.

The excuses are already flowing. Head coach Craig Fulton, who took over from Graham Reid, insists that the team is “trying new tactics” and “learning.” But those claims ring hollow when basic execution goes missing. In the recent 2-3 defeat to Australia, India were ahead 2-1 with minutes to go. By the time the final hooter sounded, Australia was ahead, and India were once again left looking dazed. ‘Learning’ cannot justify conceding a match-winner with 43 seconds left.

India’s shift towards man-to-man marking has backfired spectacularly. Opponents have found acres of space as Indian defenders get pulled out of shape. This is not the tactical audacity of a team building for the long term. A generation of players who tasted Olympic success seem unable to carry the weight of expectations or responsibility.

What makes this slump especially galling is the quality of opposition. These are not full-strength world-beating squads India are up against. Australia, too, are in a phase of rotation, experimenting with their own combinations. Yet, it is India who appear disoriented and fragile under pressure.

This is hardly the first time Indian hockey has collapsed under its own contradictions. From the golden age of Dhyan Chand and eight Olympic golds to the ignominy of failing to qualify for the 2008 Games, Indian hockey has long oscillated between bursts of brilliance and institutional dysfunction.

The problem is cultural as well. The Indian team continues to be mentally unprepared for pressure, unable to close out games and far too forgiving of mediocrity. The buck does not stop at the coach’s desk alone. Hockey India, too, must be held to account. What plans are in place to arrest the slide? Where is the leadership, both on and off the field?

Unless the team stops looking for silver linings and starts reckoning with its failures, India risks returning to the wilderness.