Stylistic change behind India’s hockey glory

New Delhi: After that utterly chaotic and ultimately fateful loss to New Zealand on penalties at the World Cup in India last year (3-3 after regulation time), something had to change.

Sure, under Graham Reid as the team coach , the side had broken a four-decades long Olympic drought but playing an ultra-fast, attacking brand of hockey added an additional layer of jeopardy. While that sort of attacking DNA suited India, they needed more security at the back. The team has shuffled strategies under Craig Fulton, the current coach.

Hockey, unlike football, sees a lot of goals scored. However, like football, most of the champions share one common trait. The most successful nations are teams who concede the least number of goals. In recent times in men’s hockey, the likes of Belgium and Germany have comfortably won global titles while keeping average goals conceded to below 2 (that theme is set to continue in Paris as well — Germany and Netherlands, this year’s finalists, have conceded 19 goals between them in 14 matches).