AT the time of writing, Pakistan has won its three initial encounters at the Commonwealth Games, and is all set to play the semi-final after heading its wn group. True, everyone knew it happened, for no one ever thought Pakistan would go down against, say, Wales. But still, things have to be accomplished on the field. Paper strengths do not matter in sports, and that is what keeps the arena going.
Though the 3-0 and 2-0 scorelines against the Wales and Canadian sides might have come as a disappointment to some, I can safely assume that it would have had more to do with complacency than inefficiency. Major teams tend to take lightly matches against lowly ranked teams, and that, I am sure, was the case with Pakistan. The thing to see in practical terms is that the team has collected maximum points and no goal has been scored against it thus far.
The one match that would really test the Pakistanis, as every one knows, will be against the Australians, and that should be in the final. The Australians, I know, are on a high, with some recent meaningful victories under their belt. But, as I see it, Pakistan will have a definite advantage over their rivals if they play to their potential, and I find no reason why the team should not start off in a positive frame of mind, taking the field as pre-match favourites.
I say this because of two reasons. First, because they have in Sohail Abbas what no other team in the competition has. His hat-trick in the match against England would have given him a timely shot in the arm. If the Pakistani forward line can support his efforts, the Australians will really be pushed to the wall before they know it.
Second, because the Australians have a style much similar to Pakistan’s. Unlike European teams, the Australians do not play with a packed defence, preferring to go for their goals. This ensures an open — may I say, classic — game of hockey, which ensures spaces in the field that can be exploited by the rivals. With both teams playing a similar style, the team that will clinch the deal will be the one that will make the most of the chances that will come its way.
The Australians also play their hockey at a fast pace. To upset their rhythm, Pakistanis will do well to surprise them with a faster pace of their own in the initial fifteen to twenty minutes of the game. Once they have the scoreline in their favour, they can concentrate on ball possession, and a tactical slowdown of the proceedings, which shall then be interspersed with calculated bursts of energetic runs down the flanks. This will keep the Australians unsettled for most parts of the game.
All this, however, is easier said than done. Will the team be able to execute such a strategy is something we will have to wait and see — or ‘read’, for we get the results only through newspapers!
AT the time of writing, Pakistan has won its three initial encounters at the Commonwealth Games, and is all set to play the semi-final after heading its wn group. True, everyone knew it happened, for no one ever thought Pakistan would go down against, say, Wales. But still, things have to be accomplished on the field. Paper strengths do not matter in sports, and that is what keeps the arena going.
