New Delhi: Indian hockey has found new lows repeatedly for some time now but even by those dismal standards the last place finish in the recently concluded Champions Trophy was shocking.
In the classification match for the fifth and sixth place India went down to Pakistan 3-4 and the loss meant that India are out the elite tournament next year.
Through out the tournament the Indian forward line missed a lot of chances, which have now become the standard feature of the Indian forward line.
With key players like Gagan Ajit and Prabhjot totally off colour, the need of the hour is to take some hard decisions.
India won just one match in the tournament, a 3-2 comeback win against Pakistan in the league stage.
But against European teams the hosts looked totally off colour and the mighty Australians went 4-0 up within 20 minutes.
The old habit of conceding goals late in the match surfaced once more against Holland.
Many feel this performance could have been better if the Indians had learnt from past mistakes.
Under coach Rajinder Singh India played three tournaments this year and finished last in two and second last in one.
It's also not that the team was underprepared as there were two camps in Hyderabad and Chennai in the run up to the tournament.
The IHF also cancelled all domestic hockey tournaments for the Champions Trophy but in the end it does not show in the results.
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