Hockey World Cup: Harmanpreet Singh needs to find dragflick form | Hockey News – Times of India

BHUBANESWAR: With three weeks to go for the World Cup, Indian drag-flickers attended a special camp under Dutchman Bram Lo -mans. Given the paucity of time during the week-long programme, the two-time Olympic gold medallist focused more on technique and grip.
Going by India’s performance in penalty corners in the three pool matches, not much was obviously achieved at the camp. “The tough part is, when Harmanpreet is off, who is the next person?” chief coach Graham Reid had remarked at the camp. A question that had to be addressed earlier.
In three matches, India earned 20 penalty corners and managed to convert three. Among those, dragflick ace Harmanpreet Singh finally put his name on the sheet, but this was a flick which found the back of the net when the Wales goalkeeper was pulled out.

It was evident that Spain, England and Wales, the Group D opponents, had sorted India’s penalty corner strategies before coming into the games.
Deciphering India’s strategy is no rocket science. There is heavy dependence on Harmanpreet and the first rushers have been on the money in stifling him for space, especially since India have also been a tad slower in the relay between the injector, stopper and executor.
The drag-flicks have lacked variation, most often the target being the carpet area to the left of the goal -keeper, with the ball barely rising. This is something Lomans did not tinker with, because the drag-flick exponent is known for his top-of-roof flicks. Even the variations and the odd dummies with Amit Rohidas, Varun Kumar and Jarmanpreet Singh have drawn blanks.
Going into the crossover match against New Zealand on Sunday, India will hope for skipper Harmanpreet to find form. Harmanpreet, who replaced Manpreet Singh as the captain for the showpiece event, looks calm and composed off the field but is seemingly under pressure and hasn’t been able to bring his A game to the table. India have often banked on the 27-year-old for the initial momentum through penalty corner conversions.
Harmanpreet, playing his third World Cup, hasn’t failed on big stages in recent times. At the Tokyo Olympics, he played a key role in India’s podium finish, scoring six goals, while he slammed nine goals in the runners-up finish at the Commonwealth Games last year.
In all, Harmanpreet scored 28 goals from penalty corners in 2022 and his sudden dip in form has hit India hard. For a team which banks heavily on penalty corner conversions and their strikers not exactly on fire, it is important for the PC specialists to take renewed guard if they fancy their chances of a podium finish.