CHENNAI: IOC have up to 12 players in their ranks who have donned India caps. No other side in this year’s edition of the All-India MCC-Murugappa Gold Cup meet had that kind of know-how.
That really made the difference as IOC walked away with the title, after a 3-1 win over Punjab National Bank on Sunday. While the match failed to catch the imagination — a drab affair with chances at a premium — it was decided by the teams’ penalty-corner nous.
Two of their three goals came through that route, with Gurjinder Singh sounding the board on both occasions. He may not have been a regular scorer for the national team, but he is one of the fiercest when standing over a dead ball. “He is even more powerful than Harmanpreet Singh (India drag-flicker),” IOC manager Devesh Chauhan said after the match. Chauhan, a former India international, had sat his team down and prepared for the eventuality of the final being decided on corners. “They (PNB) play a half-court press. We knew the match would be decided on corners. We had prepared accordingly.”
When push came to shove, IOC’s big names stood up. Coming into the match, they had converted only eight out of 44 corners in five matches. Yet, they knew they could bank on their men to get the job done.
It’s something they have been doing regularly since 2018, winning 11 of their 12 tournaments (they failed to win the Surjit hockey meet in 2018). While Chauhan doesn’t really put his finger on the pulse for that ridiculous run, he says “the team just knows how to get the job done”. “All my players are very clever. They anticipate well and read the game better than.”
That in-game management was in full effect in the fourth quarter. PNB had threatened to mount a fightback after halving the deficit in the 44th minute, but IOC shut the door and threw away the keys. They expertly routed all PNB attacks down the cul-de-sac lane, killed time and slowed the pace. And with two minutes remaining, Deepak Thakur confirmed the win.
Skipper VR Raghunath went a step further to try and explain the streak. “The one reason for that winning run is the team is always united, we are together in whatever we do. That is very important for us. All the players are prepared to play 60 minutes every match,” Raghunath said.
Even though nobody had to play the full game against PNB, quite a few where in the red zone as they had only four substitutions available to them. A few like SK Uthappa was down with fever but there was no cribbing. They just got on with the job to add another shiny trophy to retain the title they had won last year.