RAJGIR: Ever been to a ticketed hockey match in the country? The small (in comparison to cricket arenas) but atmospheric grounds can work up quite the din, especially when India have the ball and are breaking forward in numbers.
At first, the build up of noise is slow. The realisation that India are on the attack and may have a shooting opportunity takes a few seconds to permeate through the crowd, be it in Bhubaneswar or Rajgir or Rourkela or Chennai or New Delhi (the five venues the national team has played international games in over the last few years).
It gives way a more guttural roar as they pass the middle third and enter the striking circle. That noise can be very disconcerting, especially to players who haven't played hockey in front of over 10000 fans. Even otherwise, it can get very loud -- in Rourkela, when over 18000 fans had walked through the turnstiles to watch the World Cup in 2023 -- smartwatches sent warnings about the decibel levels in the environment.
Former Belgium coach, Shane McLeod, tells this daily that they always focused on 'keeping the crowd quiet'. One way of doing so is ensuring no fast breaks, keep the pace of play slow and avoiding rapid transitions. That way, you try and remove all energy from the game.
But the opposite can also be true. Too much energy from the crowd can act as a net negative. when it gets distilled to the hosts' players, it can lead to a loss of composure as that as a command to 'hit the ball faster', according to coach Craig Fulton.
"The crowd is baying for blood so they want goals," he says. "When the noise goes up, everyone thinks we have to hit it harder or do more. We just need to stay calm."
The Indian forwards have been guilty of not retaining composure in crucial moments in the recent past and that proved to be case against South Korea as well. A few players snatched at chances when they were clean through on goal.
Obviously, there's a technical aspect but there's also a mental aspect. How do you eliminate the pressure of obliging 10000 people asking you to score goals (it's akin to spectators screaming for 'shoot' whenever there ball is at the edge of the D). "We do work with Paddy (mental guru Paddy Upton), this is not just for this one tournament alone. This (Indian crowds raising their volume whenever the team is on the attack) will never change.
"The expectation is the thing to manage. Everyone wants to win, everyone wants every shot to go in but it's doesn't work like that, you know. It may be works like that once every 10 games."
Of course, some of these players have had a lot of experience playing in front of huge crowds but it's automatic human psyche to sometimes give in. However, as McLeod says, 'it can often be inspirational as the noise can make the players run faster and work that bit harder'.
The current support staff have worked extensively on getting the team used to the crowd noise. In a training session before last year's Olympics, they placed giant-sized speakers and piped in crowd noise to get the players used to the 'pressure'. But Wednesday night showed that it's still a work in progress.
It also kind of explains why the men's team are still searching for a consequential medal at home. Apart from winning an Olympic qualifier at home in 2019, the men's team haven't won any of the major medals.
They have a chance to set it right this weekend as winning the Asia Cup gives them a direct World Cup spot.
After starting trouble, India find their gears
On nights like Thursday, it can gee up a team. After one of the worst 15 minutes of hockey under Fulton, the hosts were staring at a long night. Malaysia hadn't just scored the opener within two minutes but India displayed a lot of nerves, silly mistakes ruined their build-up play and passes into the final third was off-kilter.
They needed a big performance to avoid a must-win scenario on Saturday and that's exactly what they conjured. When they are firing on all cylinders, the passes connect but the attacks flow from coast to coast in a holistic manner. Manpreet Singh, Sukhjeet Singh and Shilanand Lakra scored three in seven minutes to kill all tension from the game. Vivek Sagar Prasad rounded out the scoring in the third quarter.
They also go top of the standings with one more game to go.