BHUBANESWAR: On the evidence of the last 120 minutes, Graham Reid has a tough task ahead of him. His wards once again found it tough to play around Russia’s defensive line. The World No 22 parked the bus for the second night in a row and it was only in the fourth quarter that the bus moved.
An aggregate score of 11-3 (4-2 on Friday and 7-1 on Saturday) isn’t a disgrace. The job is done and the men are on their way to Tokyo as well but Reid will need to take a hard look at the team. For starters, they play their first Pro League encounter in a little over 70 days (against The Netherlands on January 18 and 19) and the Australian will have to decide how best to prepare for that challenge.
Considering it’s an Olympic year, how does he use the resources at his disposal? Does he give his core team enough opportunities or will he rotate to keep his best players fresh for the Games? With 16 matches across five countries in the first six months, there is also bound to be a lot of travelling so these factors could affect the team in 2020.
There are other questions too that need to be answered. Considering the World No 5 have brought back a number of seniors, does the team management plan to have all of them at the Olympics? There is also the question of developing more game-changers.
Most of them are good at dropping 6s and 7s out of 10 but they frequently struggle on the biggest stage because there isn’t that one totemic figure who can inspire others. Captain Manpreet Singh has that ability in his locker. If Reid’s men are to do something in Japan, Singh, one suspects, will have to be not just captain in name but also nature.
Result: India 7 Russia 1. Aggregate: India 11 Russia 3.