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India take on Spain in their fifth FIH Pro League match this season, as the caravan moves from Bhubaneswar to Rourkela. Craig Fulton’s team so far has two wins, one penalty shootout and one loss in the four games he has played so far.
India has been tested in different ways throughout those four games, and it has been an ideal start to an Olympic year in terms of finding themselves in different scenarios and having to find solutions for them.
In the first match against Spain, India won 4-1 in a match they largely dominated. It has been their most complete performance in the four matches so far, but in the three matches since, several Indian shortcomings have come to the fore.
Fulton has made it clear that he wants India to control the games better. So far, he has struggled a bit to find that balance between offense and defense. For example, after leading 4-2 at half-time against Australia, India simply fell too far behind and invited Australian pressure, which they ultimately failed to avoid, resulting in a 6-4 defeat.
After that, against Ireland, India struggled to find a way past a deep defence, often lacking ideas to break through the Irish, before Gurjant Singh’s winning goal with just a minute left on the clock.
Now, with four matches left in Rourkela against teams they have already played once, India will look for those marginal improvements that will make them a better team before heading to the Olympics in July.