Indians enter Hall of shame, lose to Eng 2-3

kuala lumpur: it is now becoming more and more difficult to fathom what actually is wrong with this indian team here at the 10th men''s world cup hockey tournament. it might not make a perfect script for a mystery novel. but certainly, though, a wonderful theme for the author, with the indian team and coaches providing the data for unravelling the mystery in the closing chapter. for, there can be no gainsaying that the talent, the potential, is definitely there. but their performance, right from the start, has been baffling, to say the least. and, friday, at the main pitch of the bukit jalail stadium was no different. indifferent form stayed stubbornly shackled with them as they crashed to their third defeat in four matches, a 2-3 loss to england in pool ''b''. once again, they conceded soft goals, the result of silly mistakes. the english never had to work hard to get them. once again, they brought it upon themselves to be forced on the defensive, to fight from behind. and once again, they forced themselves back into the match in the second session but were unable to sustain themselves for the final flourish which could have fetched at least a solitary point if not the first win of this excursion. for the fourth time in this tournament, the indians conceded the lead in the first ten minutes of play. this was because they allowed their opponents to keep position, never making a concerted effort to steal the ball, during the first quarter hour. for the umpteenth time, the defense cracked. defending their second penalty corner, there was none stationed on the goalline and danny hall''s effort went off an onrushing defender''s stick past goalkeeper jude menezes. thereafter, even though india had more possession, it was the english who looked more penetrative. and menezes it will be who has to be faulted more than any other defender for england taking a comfortable 3-1 lead. after the indians came forcefully back in the second stanza and restored parity through a crisp penalty corner drive by dilip tirkey in the 45th minute, menezes, somewhat helpless in the earlier disasters, made two unpardonable errors. england launched a quick counter-attack on resumption after conceding the equaliser. danny hall moved quickly down the inside left channel but was intercepted by dilip tirkey just inside the circle. however, the fullback was unable to control the ball and it rolled into the path of hall who essayed a swift shot. menezes had the angle covered but surprisingly let the ball slip between his pads. india were still forcing the pace but england remained ever alert to the chance of launching counters. and from one such move in the 51st minute, they earned a penalty corner. tom bertram''s push rolled swiftly along the carpet but, shockingly again, both menezes and tirkey stood leadenly rooted to their spots on the line, gazing forward as though watching an aircraft taxiing down the runway. india did manage to pull one back with a quarter of an hour to go when baljit dhillon scored with his second attempt from a penalty corner. but they were unable to drive the knife any further, not even when england were reduced to ten men over the last five minutes when guy fordham was sent off for a cracking foul on baljit saini. coach cedric d''souza admitted that too many soft goals were given away and said that his mantra would still be hard work. and when, in reply to a question, he stressed that he did not believe in luck, he also conceded that lady luck "has not smiled on the team even once". he also refused to comment on the umpiring but needless to say india were once again victims of some ridiculous decisions by south african umpire clive mcmurray.